Happily Ever After, Yeah Right
by Shadow of the Forgotten
Summary: Matsuda's cousin has come to stay with him for the week and he decides to take her to work with him. The Kira taskforce will never be the same again.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own DeathNote or anything affiliated with said show. I also don't own RvB. I do however take full credit for Hadi and everything she says.

"Speaking"

'Thoughts'

* * *

So far, today had been a wonderful day. Matsuda had woken up early; feeling very well rested for the first time since he'd joined the Kira taskforce, and for once he didn't burn his breakfast. His shower didn't run out of hot water, and the mean lady from down the hall actually said good morning to him instead of growling and trying to hit him with her umbrella. Needless to say, Matsuda was in a great mood. At least until he stepped outside.

The young woman, dressed in black cargo pants and a tight black muscle shirt, that was leaning against his car smiled brightly. After adjusting her backpack, she waved her hand. "Hey cous, what's up?" She asked cheerfully.

Matsuda paled slightly and was half tempted to turn around and walk right back inside, if the thought of dealing with his aunt didn't scare him so much. So instead, he decided to find out just why exactly his juvenile delinquent cousin (and he meant that in the most loving way possible) was currently leaning up against his car with what appeared to be several days worth of clothes on her back. "…um, hello Hadi." He said slowly, trying to figure out how best to word his question.

"Oh don't go acting all scared like that; I'm not in any trouble." Hadi said, crossing her arms in annoyance. "Mom just sent me here for the week since she's going out of town. Apparently she doesn't trust me to be alone for that long; she's afraid I'll burn down her newly refurbished house or something. You'd think she'd trust me more now that I graduated, but I guess considering some of the things I've done I can see where she's coming from. So anyway, now I'm stuck staying with you for the week."

Blinking, Matsuda cocked his head in confusion. "Why didn't anyone tell me?" He asked. "If I'd known you were coming I would have put out the extra futon." 'And put myself in the hospital to get out of it.' He thought grimly.

Hadi shrugged. "Beats me, though mom's always saying that you make up stupid excuses to get out of helping her, so maybe she figured this was the best option."

Matsuda opened his mouth to respond, but decided against it. Anything he said at this point would just end up being twisted and used against him later by his aunt. 'Sure I love her, but she can be _really_ scary sometimes.' He thought to himself. Glancing back over at his younger cousin, he smiled slightly. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad having her around, he wouldn't be so lonely…

"…come and say that to my face you jerk." Hadi said angrily to a young man that had just walked by. "I don't go around calling you a wanna be poser do I, so why are you calling me names huh?"

…on second thought, maybe he should just get a cat. Grabbing his cousin's arm, and shooing the man away at the same time, Matsuda pulled Hadi towards the car. "Why must you always pick fights?" He asked as he opened the car door. "You know your mom hates it when you do that."

"Hey, that jerk called me a slut." Hadi growled out. "He's lucky I didn't kick his ass."

"He called you a what?!" Matsuda cried. "How dare he do that to you!"

Shaking her head at her slightly over the top cousin, Hadi smiled. "Don't worry about it." She said as she climbed into the car. "He's just some punk trying to act tough. I'll send my gang over later to rough him up." Seeing Matsuda's eyes widen, she laughed. "I was just joking."

Matsuda calmed down slightly and got into his car as well. "Don't scare me like that. Your mother's always telling me about the crazy things you get yourself into and a gang wouldn't be that much of a stretch."

"Oh I wasn't joking about the gang, only about having them rough the boy up." Hadi said with a smirk.

Gulping, Matsuda put the key in the ignition and turned it over. "You really shouldn't tell me things like that; I am a police officer you know."

"I know, but you won't arrest me. You're too afraid of what mom would do to you if she found out." Hadi replied. "Besides, I've left most of that crap behind me. I'm going to college next month and mom said I had to straighten up or she wouldn't pay for me to become a lawyer."

"You're going to be a lawyer?!" Matsuda asked in shock.

"Yep, I got into Tokyo University and everything." Hadi said with a smile.

Matsuda whistled as he pulled out onto the street. "That's impressive. I knew you were smart, but I had no idea you wanted to become a lawyer. Good for you."

Hadi nodded her head and then let her eyes fall to the window of the car. Noticing that they were moving, she turned to face her cousin once more. "Um, where are we going?" She asked curiously. "I thought we were at your apartment."

"We were, but since I'm running late, and I can't let you stay there by yourself, I'm taking you to work with me." Matsuda said cheerfully. "And now that I know you want to be a lawyer I thought maybe you'd enjoy seeing how a real detective works."

"Are you saying mom's _not_ a real detective?" Hadi asked. "Cause I don't think she'd be too happy to hear you said that."

Matsuda paled. "O-of course not." He stuttered. "That's not what I meant by that."

Hadi waved her hand dismissively and smiled. "Don't worry about it, I won't tell her."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Matsuda pulled off the road and into the garage of a rather large hotel. "Please don't scare me like that." He mumbled.

"I thought you said we were going to your work." Hadi said suspiciously. "This looks more like you're going to _meet_ with someone. You're not going to tell me to wait in the car while you have your _meeting_ are you?"

Blushing a deep red at what his cousin had implied, Matsuda parked his car and shut it off. "I was being serious, I'm part of the Kira taskforce and this is where we work." He said proudly, though the red on his cheeks made him look rather ridiculous.

"You've got to be joking, there's no way they'd allow you on the Kira case." Hadi said, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Tell me the truth."

"I am." Matsuda said as he got out of the car. "I even work with the great detective L."

"Yeah, I'll believe that when I see it." Hadi said, stepping out of the car as well. "We both know you're still low man on the totem pole when it comes to getting good cases. There's no way they'd let you anywhere near a case as important as the Kira one."

Matsuda simply shook his head and continued to smile cheerfully at his cousin as he typed in the seven digit code to open the main door. After getting his retina scanned, the door opened with a hiss and he motioned his cousin inside. "Welcome to the Kira Taskforce Headquarters." He said with flourish.

"Rather small don't you think?" Hadi said as she looked around the tiny entryway. "I would've expected more equipment…and less shoes."

"Oh, wait, we're not there yet." Matsuda said hurriedly. "It's right through _this_ door." Pushing the door open slowly, he stuck his head inside to make sure it was the right room, before pushing it open the rest of the way and yet again announcing the area. "Welcome to the Kira Taskfor-." At least until Hadi cut him off.

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time." Hadi said with a small wave of her hand. "This is the amazing Kira headquarters. Well, at least there are a few computers here. Though I'm kinda disappointed with how lame it looks around here. I figured there'd be a whole squad of people running about with phones to their ears and folders in their hands trying to solve this case. Instead I see…no one. And isn't this place a little too small for a taskforce headquarters?"

"Actually, there's only the eight of us here so this place works well." Matsuda said as he pulled off his coat and dumped it onto a coat rack. Before Hadi could ask who these mysterious people were, and make some snide remark about them being in his head, he continued. "This place belongs to L and his friend Watari. Misa-Misa, that's the famous model if you didn't know, lives upstairs in her own personal wing. And then there are us detectives, the Chief Soichiro, he's my boss, and Mogi and Aizawa. Oh, and the Chief's son Light also helps us out after school. He's a genius you know."

Hadi rolled her eyes as her cousin continued to ramble on about the people he worked with. 'I mean really, who cares about models and boy geniuses.' She thought boredly. Turning around, she let her eyes wander the room. Sure it wasn't what she'd expected, but they definitely had some top of the line computers.

"So what do you think?" Matsuda asked. "Isn't this place great?"

"…yeah, super." Hadi said with only a small amount of sarcasm. "Now what exactly am I supposed to do while I'm here?"

Matsuda looked around slowly and then shrugged. "…um…I'm not really sure." He said. "Maybe L will let you use one of his computers to surf the net when he gets down here." When he saw Hadi's eyes take on an evil glint, he gulped. "Then again, maybe that's not such a great idea."

"Ah, come on. I promise I won't hack into any government databases again." Hadi said, looking the picture of innocence.

"I don't believe you." Matsuda said bluntly. "You told your mom the same thing and then you hacked into Interpol and tried to steal some case files from them. If your mom hadn't covered for you by blaming that crazy hacker…whatever his name was…you'd be in jail until your fiftieth birthday."

"Hey, I only did that cause you guys wouldn't let me help you with the case." Hadi said, crossing her arms and frowning slightly. "If you had let me read the files then I wouldn't have had to hack in to see them. Besides, I was right about who it was wasn't I."

Matsuda paused. "Yes, and that's the only reason your mom didn't put you under house arrest and remove all your electronics." He said. "But that still doesn't make what you did right."

"You sound like my father when you say crap like that." Hadi grumbled.

Knowing her father was still a sore subject; Matsuda smiled and pulled out a chair. "Well, how about we get you something to do." He said happily. "I'm sure there are some files around here that you can organize."

"Oh goody, I get to organize things." Hadi said sarcastically.

Matsuda, being completely unaware of the sarcasm dripping from his cousin's words, smiled brightly. "That's the spirit." He chirped. Turning around, he headed over to a desk and started grabbing several stacks of paperwork. Just as he was finishing up the stack, the door opened and two people walked in.

"So how was your daughter's party Aizawa?" An older looking man in a suit asked as he entered the room. "Did she have a good time?"

"Yes she did, thanks for asking Chief." The man now known as Aizawa replied.

Matsuda jumped up, scattering the files he was stacking all over the ground. "Hey Chief, Aizawa." He said with a small salute. "Good morning."

Hadi rolled her eyes at her cousin before standing up and heading over to clean up the files. The Old Guy and Mr. Afro were obviously two of the detectives that worked there so that meant they were of no interest to her, especially if Matsuda was on such good terms with them.

"Good morning Matsu-…who is she?" Soichiro asked, eyes narrowing dangerously. "You know no one is allowed in here except us. It's far too dangerous for civilians to be here."

"Oh, that's my cousin Hadi." Matsuda said, waving his hand in her direction. "She's going to be staying with me for the week and since I can't leave her at home I thought I'd bring her here with me. Don't worry though, she's the daughter of Mina so she knows the ins and outs of dealing with cases and she'll keep out of everyone's way."

Soichiro's eyes remained narrowed and he motioned Matsuda over to a corner. "We need to talk." He said sternly. "You too Aizawa."

While the detectives huddled in the corner decided her fate, Hadi shook her head and placed the files back on the table in a neat stack. Deciding that they were going to be awhile, she began to leaf through the files to see what they were about. Flipping through the first few pages, she scanned the lines quickly. Before she knew it, Hadi had sat down at the desk and began to separate the files into two piles. One pile for files that had a possible link to Kira and one for those files that were a waste of time.

"I don't care if she is the daughter of the legendary 'Queen of Homicide', she's still a civilian and she doesn't belong here." Soichiro stated firmly. "You should never have brought her in the first place."

"The Chief is right." Aizawa said with a shake of his head. "I can't believe you were stupid enough to show her where the taskforce was located. What if Kira gets a hold of her, then we'd be in serious trouble."

"Ah, but we currently have two of the three Kira's staying here with us." A monotone voice suddenly said. "And I highly doubt the third Kira is even aware of our presence here, let alone that we might have a civilian among us they can interrogate to find our location. From my research the third Kira is far too stupid for a plan like that."

Matsuda jumped as a dark haired man entered into their little conversation. "Geeze L, you startled me."

"Then you should be more aware of your surroundings Matsuda." L stated bluntly.

"Good morning Ryuzaki." Soichiro said with a nod of his head, Aizawa nodding as well. "I apologize for the intrusion, we'll have her out of here shortly and I'll deal with Matsuda personally."

L waved his hand slightly before stuffing that same hand into his pocket. "It is of no consequence. As I stated before, there is no problem with…" Trailing off, he glanced over at Matsuda.

"Oh, her name is Hadi." Matsuda offered.

"…Hadi staying here. I've already run full background searches on all of you, your families and your extended families and if there were any problems none of you would be here now." L finished. When Matsuda pulled at his collar nervously, he continued. "And yes I am aware of her past…we shall call them experiments for the time being, and as far as I can tell she was doing them for a good cause. She thinks like a detective, it is a good quality."

Soichiro opened his mouth to speak then promptly closed it when L's eyes turned on him.

"Do not forget that your son is currently a civilian as well and we allow him to help." L said, and turning around he signaled the conversation closed.

When Matsuda pumped his fist in the air in victory, Aizawa shook his head and walked over to his desk to get started on the day's files. He'd had more than enough drama for the time being.

Hadi, who had tuned out everything around her as she became completely absorbed in her task, never even noticed when the detectives took their seats and began to start their work for the day. She was far too busy following a paper trail that she suspected would eventually narrow down the suspects to a select group from Yotsuba Corp. 'Now where was that file…oh there it is.' She thought, biting her lip in concentration. 'I knew I'd seen this name before. It's the same one that's over here.' Looking back and forth between the two pages, she jumped when a voice spoke up.

"Very impressive." L mumbled through his thumb. "Only Light-kun and I have made that connection so far and you've managed to come to the same conclusion in mere minutes without any outside help at all. You truly are your mother's daughter."

Patting a hand against her chest, Hadi took several calming breaths and tried to slow her heart down. "First of all, don't sneak up people like that; you'll give them a heart attack. And second, how do you know my mother?" She asked, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Who exactly are you?"

The strange looking man, dressed in a long-sleeved white shirt and loose jeans, blinked slowly. "…you may call me Ryuzaki." He said after several moments of silence. "And as to how I know your mother…that is none of your concern."

Just as Hadi was about to jump up and attack the weird looking man, Matsuda came walking up and grabbed her arm. "Calm down Hadi, he didn't mean it the way it sounded." Matsuda said calmly. "Ok, maybe he did, but that's just the way he is." Putting a hand to his cousin's ear, he whispered. "Ryuzaki doesn't know anything about social etiquette and things like that. I think he grew up in a cave or something."

"Matsuda, I can hear you." L stated in annoyance. "Please try to keep your stupid comments to yourself."

Gulping, Matsuda nodded his head and backed up a few steps while Hadi chuckled behind her hand. Turning his attention back to his cousin, Matsuda smiled brightly. "Oh that's right, I forgot to introduce you two." He said cheerfully. "Hadi, this is L, but he likes us to call him Ryuzaki since Kira needs a name to kill people."

"…you must be joking." Hadi said. "There is no way that _this_ is L. He looks more like some creepy stalker panda, not a brilliant detective."

"I have told you many times to not give out my name Matsuda." L said, ignoring Hadi's comment about his looks. "I may have said she could stay, but that does not make it ok to tell her everything." When Matsuda nodded, L shook his head and went back to examining the stacks Hadi had made of the files.

"Sorry." Matsuda apologized, though if L heard him he made no response. "I promise I won't do it again."

"At least not until next time, right?" Hadi asked with a smirk.

Giving his cousin a glare, Matsuda was about to reply when L spoke up once more.

"Excellent job Hadi. Keep this up and you can have Matsuda's place on the taskforce." L said as he went over to his chair and climbed onto it.

Seeing Matsuda's crushed face, Hadi shook her head. "I'm sure he was only joking cous." She said consolingly. "Besides, I want to be a lawyer, not a detective." Ignoring L's comment about that being a shame, she nudged her cousin back over to what she assumed was his desk. 'I doubt anyone else would have all those cute animal pictures at their workstations. He's still so immature.' She thought sadly.

"You're right." Matsuda chirped, once again his overly cheerful self. "I'm an important member of this taskforce and as such I'm invaluable."

"I wouldn't go that far." Hadi said, backing away from her cousin as his eyes began to shimmer in happiness. "It's probably more accurate to say you're very useful for certain tasks."

"Like getting snacks and doing other menial errands." L muttered from his spot near the monitors.

Since Matsuda hadn't heard his comment, Hadi merely glared at the detective. 'Yeah, and I'm supposed to believe he's the great L.' She thought with a snort. Patting her cousin on the back, and giving him a small shove into his seat lest he continue to stand there for hours, Hadi turned around and went back to the files she was working on.

The room remained silent, well relatively silent since Matsuda just can't seem to keep his mouth shut for very long, for the next twenty minutes and Hadi was almost through her stack when the doors to the room opened once more. Fairly certain she didn't want to know who was coming in, Hadi decided to ignore the newcomers and finish her task. Unfortunately, that was not to be the case.

The minute Light stepped into the Kira Taskforce Headquarters, with Misa babbling annoyingly on his arm, he noticed two things. The first was that he was actually one of the last ones there, which was very unusual for the obsessively prompt college student, and the second was that there was a young woman currently sitting at his desk…un-organizing the files he'd just gone through the day before. Needless to say, he was not very happy.

"…so anyway, I told the photographer that if he didn't make the pictures look better he was out of a job." Misa said with a giggle, clutching Light's arm to her chest. "You should have seen the look on h-."

Light cut her off with a wave of his hand and pulled his arm out of her grasp. Ignoring Misa's protests, he stormed over to the unwelcome guest and placed his hands on his hips. "What do you think you're doing?!" He asked angrily. "I've already gone through those and you're messing them up!"

Hadi blinked and looked over her shoulder at the man who was disturbing her concentration. "Can you wait for a second, I'm almost finished. Once I'm done I promise I'll listen attentively to your tantrum." She said with a small wave of her hand. Turning back around, she ignored everything around her as she picked up another file and began to go through it.

L chuckled quietly as Light stood there sputtering for several seconds. "I see you've met Matsuda's cousin Hadi." He said with a smile. "She'll be helping us out for the next few days."

"The hell she will!" Light growled. "We have no need for another annoying female; Misa's already got that role covered."

Soichiro, Aizawa and Matsuda stared at Light in shock and he quickly cleared his throat. "What I meant wa-."

"Did you call me Light darling?" Misa asked, walking up to her boyfriend with a smile.

While L smirked behind his hand, Light shook his head and then smiled at Misa. "Why yes I did." He said, a brilliant plan forming in his mind. "I'd like you to meet Matsuda's cousin Hadi, she'll be with us for the next few days and she's a huge fan of yours. Why don't you take her with you to your photo shoot?"

"I didn't know you were a fan of Misa-Misa's too!" Matsuda exclaimed, patting his cousin on the shoulder. "Now we can share CD's and go to her concerts together!"

Soichiro and Aizawa pretended not to hear Matsuda's fan girl squeals and buried their noses further into their work. Sadly, this was not an uncommon occurrence.

Hadi looked up from the files and turned to look at her cousin oddly. "Ok, what exactly are you on…and who do I have to kill so you can't get it anymore?" She asked.

If Matsuda was going to answer, he didn't get the chance. Misa thrust her hand out and smiled brightly. "Hi, I'm Misa Amane and I heard you're a big fan of mine. How would you like to go with me to a photo shoot? I'll even get you an autograph."

Hadi blinked slowly and then raised an eyebrow curiously. "…um, what are you talking about?" She asked. "I never said I was your f-."

"Well now that the two of you have met, you should probably get going." Light said, cutting off Hadi before she could finish. "You wouldn't want to be late again Misa."

"You're right." Misa chirped as she grabbed Hadi's hand and pulled her to her feet. "We'd better leave. Bye!" And with that she proceeded to drag a stunned Hadi out of the building.

"She's so lucky." Matsuda sighed. "What I wouldn't give to spend the day with Misa-Misa."

Ignoring Matsuda, L raised an eyebrow at the now smirking Light. "That wasn't very nice Light-kun." L said as he picked up his fork. "Hadi was only re-organizing the files that Matsuda dropped. And doing an excellent job of it I might add. She even caught several things that you missed."

"I didn't miss anything." Light said, taking a seat at his now clear desk. "And why are you trying to make that girl such a big deal. I mean, she's related to Matsuda for crying out loud."

"Ah, but she's also the daughter of Mina." L said as he took another bite of his cake. "You do know who Mina is…don't you?"

Light narrowed his eyes at the famous detective for even daring to imply that he didn't know of Mina 'the Queen of Homicide', before turning up his nose and getting started on the next stack of files. "That still doesn't mean she's got any brains." Light muttered, and L decided to ignore that comment for now. They did have work to get done after all.

ooooo

Just outside the doors to the taskforce headquarters, Hadi had finally managed to pry Misa's hand off her wrist. Turning a glare on the cheerful woman, Hadi crossed her arms. "What was that all about?" She asked in annoyance. "I never said I wanted to go with you to your stupid photo shoot, so why are you dragging me around?"

"But Light said you were a fan and that you'd love to come with me." Misa said, a small frown marring her face.

"And you never thought to ask me if that was true?" Hadi asked, raising an eyebrow curiously. "Do you always believe everything that guy says?"

"Of course, my Light would never lie to me. He loves me." Misa said, hearts forming in her eyes as she smiled dreamily.

"Yeah, and people _never_ lie to the ones they love." Hadi muttered under her breath. When Misa continued to stand there with a silly grin on her face, Hadi shook her head. "What's it like living in a world of ignorance and stupidity?" She asked.

"Did you say something?" Misa asked, and when Hadi shook her head, she shrugged. "Ok then, let's get going. The car is just around the corner and I'm sure my driver is getting a little worried since I'm really late." Grabbing Hadi's arms once more, she started walking down the street.

"Why do you keep dragging me around?" Hadi asked, pulling her arm away from Misa. "I've already told you I don't want to go with you, so let me go already."

"But Light said you were a fan and wanted to come with me." Misa said, cocking her head slightly.

Hadi rolled her eyes and slapped her forehead in annoyance. "Didn't we just go through this?" She asked herself. "I could've sworn we already had this conversation." Glancing over at Misa, who looked thoroughly confused as to why she was still standing there, Hadi shook her head. "I give up." Holding out her hand, she cringed when Misa smiled happily. "Let's go to this stupid thing of yours."

"Not to worry, I'm sure you'll have a great time." Misa chirped. "And I'll even get you an autograph!"

'Please let me survive the next few hours.' Hadi begged to whatever deity might be listening.

ooooo

While Hadi was being drug off to her doom, the members of the Kira Taskforce were hard at work…well, most of them anyway. "So then I told Mina that she really needed to tell me when she was going to have Hadi stay with me. I mean, what would've happened to Hadi if I'd been gone on some mission or something. She could have been kidnapped, or worse, killed." Matsuda told everyone, or at least those that were listening, from his seat atop his desk. "I know she's tough and all, but she's still just a kid."

"Matsuda, don't you think you should get some work done?" Aizawa asked without looking up from the file he was going through. "That is what you get paid for after all."

"Aizawa's right." Soichiro said. "Please stay focused on your work. It is imperative that we catch the third Kira before he can kill any more people. The death toll is far too high as it is."

Matsuda bowed his head in apology. "Sorry Chief, I'll get back to work now." Climbing off his desk, he took a seat and picked up another file. 'It's not fair.' He thought with a whine. 'Hadi gets to go out and have fun and I'm stuck in here going through boring paperwork.' Pouting, he was just about to pick up another file when L called him.

"I would like you to run an errand for me Matsuda." L said, glancing over his shoulder slightly. Seeing the young detective nod, he continued. "I am out of sweets and Watari won't be back for several more hours. Please take this list and go to the bakery across town." Holding the sheet between his thumb and forefinger, he waved it back and forth a few times.

Nodding, Matsuda stood up and took the paper from L. Glancing down the list, his eyes widened. "You really want me to get all this?!" He asked in shock. "But there's no way you'll be able to eat it all."

L simply raised an eyebrow and Light rolled his eyes from his seat next to the dark haired detective. "Matsuda, how is it possible that after this long you still manage to be shocked by how much L eats?" Light asked. "With as many times as he's sent you out shopping, I'd think you'd be used to his eating habits by now."

Matsuda opened his mouth, and then closed it slowly. "He always eats this much?" He asked curiously.

Light rubbed his forehead before turning around and ignoring the idiot. 'I do hope stupidity isn't contagious.' He thought. 'Otherwise, I'm screwed.'

L, who had been watching the conversation with a small smirk, focused on Matsuda once Light had turned around. "You should go; it's going to take a while for the bakery to make all those items." He stated.

"Oh, you're right." Matsuda said quickly. "I'd better leave now." And just like that, he was out the door.

There was silence in the room for several seconds and then Aizawa spoke up. "It's about damn time. Maybe now I'll be able to get some actual work done. I think I've read this same paragraph thirty times." He grumbled.

"Matsuda means well." Soichiro said as he pulled off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "He's just a little too…"

"Stupid." Light offered.

"Annoying." L said.

"…energetic is what I was going to say." Soichiro finished, glaring at his son and L. "He really wants to help; he just doesn't always go about things the right way."

"Yeah, like never." Aizawa muttered under his breath. When the Chief turned narrowed eyes on him, he cleared his throat and picked up another file.

"I think we should all get back to work, there's no telling how long we have until he gets back." Light said from his seat. "And I for one would like to get done early today."

"Taking Misa-Misa out on a date?" L asked curiously.

Light turned up his nose. "That is none of your business." He replied.

"Ah, so you are taking her out. Where are you going, someplace nice I assume." L said, continuing to pry.

"I've already told you it's none of your business now leave me alone." Light growled in annoyance.

As the two continued to bicker, Soichiro and Aizawa rolled their eyes. "So much for silence." Aizawa muttered, and Soichiro nodded his head in agreement.

ooooo

Several miles away, Misa and Hadi were at a beautiful little park that had been decorated with all kinds of lights and a few small statues. The place would have been great to relax in, if not for the photographers and press people running around everywhere.

"Now hold that pose…just like that." A young male photographer told Misa. "You look absolutely gorgeous."

When Misa giggled cutely, Hadi rolled her eyes. "Anymore compliments and her ego is going to be too big for those skimpy outfits of hers." She muttered. Seeing one of the wardrobe people glaring at her, Hadi raised an eyebrow. "What, you got a problem?"

Before the woman could respond, Misa bounced over happily. "So what do you think?" She asked. "Isn't this the coolest thing you've ever seen?"

"Actually, the coolest things I've ever seen were some crime scene photos from one of Collage's murders. That guy sure did know how to stage a scene." Hadi replied. "I mean he even went so far as to dye his victim's hair different colors so it would match his design. It was amazing."

Misa's eyes widened and she covered her mouth in shock. "That's creepy, not cool." She said. "How can you possibly think that pictures of dead people are cooler than my photo shoot…what's wrong with you?" Wrapping her arms around herself, Misa eyed the Hadi like she was insane.

"Hey, I never claimed to like stupid photo shoots and lacy goth outfits." Hadi said, placing her hands on her hips. "In fact, I never wanted to come in the first place if you recall. The only reason you dragged me here was because that _pretty boy_ Light told you I wanted to come. Then, without even asking me, you drug me halfway across town to this pointless thing of yours where I'm stuck for who knows how many hours watching you prance around in lame outfits, and listening to people with absolutely no taste tell you how great you look. And now you're telling me I'm creepy on top of that. You don't know a damn thing about me." Hadi took a deep breath and tried to calm down before she hit the blonde moron.

Misa blinked several times before a smile spread across her face. "Now I get it, you've got a crush on Light." She said. "Well why didn't you just say so? There was no need to try and act all weird so I wouldn't figure it out."

"…wait…what?" Hadi asked confused. "Where the hell did you get that idea?"

Ignoring her, Misa continued. "Even though Light already belongs to me there's no reason why you can't like him too…just don't expect for him to like you in return, he is mine after all. Light's perfect in every way, it's perfectly natural for someone like you to fall head-over-heels for him. He's gorgeous and incredibly smart, that's why L practically begged him to help out on the Kira case." She finished with a dreamy smile.

"…ok, I really have no idea what you're talking about anymore." Hadi said, shaking her head slowly. "You lost me back when you said I had a thing for Light; where you got that idea from I'll never know." Glancing over at Misa, she sighed. "You know what, I give up. Trying to explain things to you is waaaay too much work. Just believe whatever you want."

"So you admit it then?" Misa asked. "That you're in love with my Light."

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Hadi said with a shrug. "Anything to get you to drop this ridiculous subject."

"Then that makes us enemies in this war of love!" Misa declared with a squeal. "This is great, now we can have sleepovers and talk about Light and how perfect he is. We can even stay up all night staring at his pictures!"

"Stalker." Hadi said quietly, and then she continued in a louder voice. "I'm not going to be around for very long though, and since I did come to spend time with my cousin I won't be able to stay over with you. Damn, that sucks." If Misa heard, she gave no notice as she waved and walked back over to finish her shoot. 'And I thought this day couldn't get any worse.' Hadi thought as she watched Misa pose for another picture. 'I've got to remember to keep my mouth shut around that girl; she jumps to really crazy conclusions. Me liking Light…as if. That guy's way to self-centered for my taste.' Leaning back against a tree, Hadi yawned and decided to dose until the shoot was over. At least that way she wouldn't have to talk to Misa anymore.

ooooo

Two and a half hours later, Misa wiped her brow and yawned behind her hand. "That was a great shoot, but I'm exhausted now." She said as her wardrobe crew removed the outfit she was wearing. "It takes a lot of effort to look that good for the camera."

The two nameless women who were working with Misa simply nodded their heads as they continued on with their work. It was best if they didn't mention that most of the hard work was done by them before the model even stepped in front of a camera.

Five minutes later Misa had redressed and was ready to head back to her love Light. Putting her purse on her arm, she walked over to the tree Hadi was leaning against and smiled. "Ok Hadi, I'm, ready to go now." When she didn't get a response, Misa tried again. "Hadi, I said we could leave now." There was still no response so Misa poked her new friend in the arm.

"Touch me again Matsuda, and I'll break your finger off." Hadi mumbled sleepily before yawning and beginning to snore slightly.

"Oh, you're asleep." Misa said. "I had no idea that you were so tired, but then after dealing with Matsuda and that creepy detective this morning I can't really blame you." Smiling, she shook the younger woman's arm gently. "Hadi, you need to wake up. It's time to head back now."

Hadi blinked and opened her eyes slowly. Glancing around, she yawned and pushed herself away from the tree. "Good, that snooze fest is finally over." She muttered through another yawn. "I can honestly say I've never been to anything that was as boring as this."

"What do you mean?" Misa asked. "Aren't you tired from dealing with your cousin and that scary detective guy? What's all this about a snooze fest?"

"…nothing." Hadi said, shaking her head. "Just forget I said anything."

"If you say so." Misa said with a shrug. Then she took Hadi's hand and began to walk back towards the front of the park where the car was located. "Now that my photo shoot is over we can head back to see Light!" Misa squealed in delight as they neared the car. "Light promised to take me somewhere special tonight and I can't wait."

"It's great that you want to see your boyfriend so much, but do you think you could maybe not tear my arm off in the process?" Hadi asked in annoyance. "It's like you're trying to pull it out of its socket."

Misa paused a few feet from the car and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I just get so excited when it comes to my darling Light. I'm sure you must know how I feel since you're in love with him as well." She replied. "I'll try not to pull so hard next time." Since the driver had already opened the door, Misa climbed inside.

"How about you just don't pull on my arms period." Hadi grumbled under her breath as she climbed in after Misa.

Closing the door, the driver walked around to the other side and slid into his seat. Starting up the engine, he lowered the panel between the front and back seats. "Where would you like to go Miss Misa?" He asked politely.

"Take us back to Light please!" Misa chirped happily, and with a nod the driver pulled out onto the street.

The ride back the Kira Headquarters was silent since Misa was too busy putting on makeup to talk; something Hadi was quite thrilled with. When the car pulled into the underground parking lot, the driver stepped out and once again opened the door for the two women in the backseat. "Here we are ladies." He said with a slight bow.

"Thank you mister driver man." Misa said as she stepped out of the car and skipped over to the entrance.

"Yeah, thanks for the ride." Hadi said with a nod. Turning to follow Misa, she heard the driver mumble something about not being paid enough to cart around prima donnas. Smiling, she shook her head and went to join Misa over by the door. Stopping next to the blonde, Hadi waited for her to open the door. Only to realize several minutes later that Misa probably couldn't open it either. "…so, um, how do we get in?" Hadi asked curiously. "I know I'm not programmed into that retinal scanner and I can only remember the first five numbers that Matsuda punched in. Is there a call button or something we can hit?"

Misa simply continued to stand there looking like this was a normal thing. "Don't worry, Light always knows when I arrive, he should be down here shortly to let me i-."

Just then the door opened and Matsuda came running out, nearly crashing into Misa as he skidded to a halt. "Oh, hi Misa." Matsuda said with a smile. "Sorry about that, I was just going back to the bakery to pick up the last of L's order. It should be done by now."

"Well hello to you too cous." Hadi said sarcastically, giving her older cousin a small glare.

Glancing to Misa's side, Matsuda laughed nervously. "I didn't see you there Hadi, did you have a good time at Misa's photo shoot?" He asked, hoping to change the subject so she'd forget her anger.

"Yeah, a blast." Hadi replied, her words dripping in sarcasm. Neither the ditzy model nor her incompetent cousin seemed to notice though.

Matsuda smiled. "I knew you would." He said. "It always so much fun hanging out with Misa-Misa."

"Awe, that's so sweet of you Matsu." Misa said with a giggle.

Rolling her eyes at the two morons next to her, Hadi decided that she'd had enough. "Matsuda, don't you have to be going somewhere?" She asked, before turning to Misa. "And Misa, I thought you were dying to see Light."

"That's right!" Matsuda cried. "I have to get to the bakery before they close." With a quick wave, he ran off towards his car and disappeared.

"Light darling, I'm back!" Misa called out as she skipped inside the building. "Where are you?"

'I'm surrounded by idiots.' Hadi thought, shaking her head with a sigh. 'How the hell am I supposed to survive this for the next four days.' Stepping through the door, she walked into the office area where everyone was located. Or at least where everyone should have been located. "Ok, now where is everyone?" Hadi asked the dark haired detective, she still refused to call him L. "Matsuda just left, but I know there were three other people here when we left. Don't tell me that they got off early for good behavior."

L glanced up from his cake and cocked his head slightly at the interruption. "Mr. Yagami and his son went home for dinner and I believe Aizawa had a family function to attend." L stated between bites.

Upon hearing that her darling Light was no longer there, Misa began to pout. "But Light promised to be here when I got back. He said he'd take me out to a movie later on." She whined. "Now what am I supposed to do?"

"Light said he would be back before nine tonight, I'm sure you can keep yourself entertained until then." L replied.

When Misa nodded her head and smiled, Hadi rolled her eyes yet again, a habit she was developing quite quickly dealing with these people. "Yeah, it'll probably take her that long just to get ready for her date." She muttered under her breath.

L ignored Hadi's comment and instead turned back to his cake when Misa waved and headed off to her upstairs apartment.

Since there was nothing else to do, Hadi pulled out a chair and took a seat at Matsuda's unoccupied desk. She sifted through the papers for a few minutes before giving up and leaning back in her seat. Her cousin never was very good at organizing things and it was impossible to tell what the papers were even about since everything was all mixed together. "How he made detective I'll never know." Hadi said with a shake of her head. "Someone must've felt sorry for him."

"My theory is that they were so short on recruits that they had to accept anyone who applied." L stated, startling Hadi since he'd been sitting there so quietly for the past several minutes.

"Damn, must you always do that?" Hadi asked. "Make some noise or something so I know you're still there."

"I apologize for scaring you." L said as he tossed a file over his shoulder. "I was under the impression though that you were aware of my presence since you spoke to me when you arrived."

"You know, you're an ass." Hadi muttered.

"I fail to see my resemblance to a donkey; do you need to have your eyes checked?" L asked curiously.

Hadi dropped her head to the table with a thud. "I'm going to shut up now." She mumbled through her hair.

L shrugged and turned back to his computers. "If that is what you wish to do." He said. "I was going to ask if you'd mind doing a small favor for me while you wait for Matsuda to return, but since you've chosen to remain quiet I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow."

"I know I'll regret this, but what do you need?" Hadi asked with a sigh. "And I swear if it's to run an errand for you I'll beat you to within an inch of your life."

"First of all, it would be nearly impossible for you to beat me in a fight, and second, Matsuda is already running my errands for me. There's no need for you to run them too." L said. "That would be rather redundant, don't you think?" When Hadi narrowed her eyes, he got to the point. "What I wanted you to help with is this." He said, waving his hand at the files in front of him. "I'm trying to upload all the relevant information onto our database, but it would be quicker if someone could weed out all the irrelevant items first."

"…oh, well why didn't you say that in the first place. I've got no problem helping you guys out." Hadi said, standing up and moving her chair over next to L's desk. "Just give me a stack and I'll get started."

L handed over a two foot pile of papers and then turned back towards the ones he was currently working on. "Just put the ones I need to upload in this stack, the others… toss them." Hadi nodded her head and got to work.

The pair worked in silence for almost an hour and were nearly finished by the time Matsuda came struggling through the door.

"Ok L, I've got everything that was on your list except for the che-." Matsuda trailed off as he took in his surroundings. "…um, when did the two of you get so close?" He asked, silently wondering if he should give his cousin 'the talk'.

Blinking, Hadi looked up from her seat next to Ryuzaki. "Oh hey cous, what's up?" And then noticing his rather large load, she jumped up to go help. "Here, let me take some of those for you."

"Thanks Hadi." Matsuda said as his cousin removed several large boxes from his arms. "They were starting to cut off the blood flow to my hands." Leading the way towards L's snack table, he set down his packages before looking at Hadi sternly. "Now, what were you doing so close to L?" He asked. "Don't tell me you guys are an item now."

"…" Hadi blinked several times and then shook her head. "I have no clue what you're talking about. I was just helping him with some files." She said. "Don't tell me you're hallucinating again."

Matsuda clasped his hand over Hadi's mouth quickly. "I told you never to mention that!" He hissed. When Hadi raised an eyebrow, he dropped his hand like he'd been burned and took a few steps back. "Sorry, that's still a touchy subject. But that's not the point, why were you sitting so close to L? I don't sit that close to him when I help with files, so why were you? Do you like him or something? You're mom had _the talk_ with you right?" He began to ramble.

Hadi frowned and then whacked her cousin upside the head. "First, you're not my father so stop acting like it, and second…WE WERE ONLY WORKING, NOTHING ELSE!!" She shouted in his ear. Pushing him aside, she bowed her head towards L. "I'll see you tomorrow." She said as she walked out of the room. Her screaming for Matsuda to hurry the hell up could be heard for blocks.

"…what did I say?" Matsuda wondered out loud.

L simply shook his head; even he knew that what Matsuda had done was stupid, and that's saying something. "Perhaps it would be wise if you took her home now." L told the young detective. "Maybe she'll be in a better mood in the morning."

"Yeah, she's probably just tired from the log day she's had." Matsuda said, cheering up slightly. "We should go now." Pulling out his keys, he waved. "I'll see you tomorrow L." He said as he walked out.

"That's Ryuzaki to you." L muttered in annoyance, though Matsuda was already too far gone to hear.

When Matsuda arrived at the car, he figured that silence was probably the best option so he wisely kept his mouth shut the entire drive home. He stayed quite while they walked inside, never said a word as he pulled out a futon for his cousin and was still silent when he handed her a plate of dinner. When they'd finished eating, however, he couldn't stay quiet anymore. "Ok, I've been thinking and I think I should apologize for my comments earlier. I'm not sure what I said to make you angry, but whatever it was, I'm sorry." He said.

Hadi shook her head and smiled. "You know, it's impossible to stay mad at someone as stupid as you." She said with a small chuckle.

"So we're good then?" Matsuda asked. "We're not fighting anymore?"

"No, we're not fighting anymore." Hadi replied. "But if you don't mind, I'd like to get some sleep now. Today has been beyond exhausting. I don't know how you put up with those guys every day."

"What do you mean?" Matsuda asked curiously. "I don't have any problems dealing with them."

"Of course you don't." Hadi said, patting her cousin on the shoulder as she walked out of the room. "Goodnight."

"Night!" Matsuda called after her. With a smile, he stood up and headed towards his room. "It's nice to have someone around; I'll have to invite her to stay here more often."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own DeathNote or anything affiliated with said show. I also don't own RvB. I do however take full credit for Hadi and everything she says.

"Speaking"

'Thoughts'

* * *

The next morning was a blur since Matsuda forgot to set his alarm, and when Hadi woke up he was already thirty minutes late for work. Needless to say, they were both quite breathless when they came running into the taskforce headquarters at a little past ten in the morning.

"Sorry we're late." Matsuda wheezed out as he pulled off his coat and hung it on the rack. "I promise it won't happen again."

Hadi covered a chuckle behind her hand when she saw Aizawa mouthing those exact same words as her cousin spoke them. When Matsuda turned to look at her, she shrugged and headed over to his desk. Cocking her head to the side, Hadi raised an eyebrow at the second chair that had been placed next to Matsuda's desk. "Well, whoever put the chair here, thanks." She said, plopping down in her new chair.

"It would be rude to make you stand." L stated. "So I had Watari bring in a second chair before he left this morning."

"That was sweet of you L…wait, that's not like you at all. What exactly are your intentions with my cousin?" Matsuda asked, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at the dark haired detective.

"Shut the hell up Matsuda." Hadi growled. "I thought we cleared that up last night, so why are you bringing it up again? Do you _want_ me to hurt you?"

"But Hadi, can't you see he's trying to earn points with you?" Matsuda said, waving his arms wildly. "He's being nice to you, which must mean he's interested."

The others in the room ducked their heads down and pretended to be invisible; this was definitely not going to end well for Matsuda.

"You are such an idiot!" Hadi cried in frustration. "It was only a stupid chair for crying out loud! It's not like he's bringing me flowers or something corny like that so knock it off!" During her little speech, Hadi had stalked to within inches of her cousin and was shaking him by the collar. "I swear on grandma Sara's grave that if you don't shut your mouth this instant I will tear out your tongue and shove it down your throat!"

The room became silent after that, no one daring to make a sound for fear of drawing Hadi's attention toward themselves. Soichiro and Aizawa both shook their heads and sunk deeper into their desks while L quietly munched on some mochi and watched the scene before him unfold.

"S-sorry." Matsuda squeaked out, and then his eyes widened and he clamped his mouth shut.

Hadi narrowed her eyes and released her cousin slowly. "I'm going to take a walk now, maybe do some window shopping and calm down. You'd better watch your mouth when I get back." She said through clenched teeth. "Otherwise I won't be held responsible for what I'll do to you."

As Matsuda was nodding his head in understanding, Misa came waltzing into the room and smiled. "Did I hear someone say they were going shopping?" She asked cheerfully.

Four pairs of eyes widened, the detectives fearing for Misa's safety, but Hadi simply shook her head and waved for Misa to follow her. "Yeah, why don't you tag along Misa. Your stupidity should be enough to calm me down from his." She muttered as she led Misa to the door.

"Oh goody, I can take you to all the best places around!" Misa cheered. "Maybe we can even get you some new clothes. Cargo pants and men's shirts are so last year."

"Hey, I happen to like these clothes." Hadi replied. "They're comfortable. Are you even listening to me?"

The detectives shared a sigh of relief as the two women disappeared out of the room. "Well, she's definitely Mina's daughter." Soichiro said with a forced chuckle. "Headstrong and fiery."

"That's a nice way of putting it." Aizawa mumbled under his breath. Glancing over at Matsuda, who was currently leaning against his desk, he shook his head. "You ok there Matsuda?"

"Y-yeah." Matsuda replied shakily. "I'm just going to stay here until my legs stop shaking. I'd forgotten how scary she can be when you piss her off."

"Then perhaps now you'll think before you speak." L said through his thumb. When Matsuda began to mumble about teenagers and their crushes, he sighed. "I was afraid that was too much to hope for." Picking up his fork, L took a bite of some strawberry cake and turned back around to face his computer monitors. Who knew how long this silence would last.

ooooo

Hadi had only been gone for twenty minutes when she had calmed down enough to regret her decision. 'Why the hell did I get myself into this situation?' She whined to herself. 'Now I'm stuck shopping with the queen of credit cards here. I officially hate Matsuda…it's all his fault.'

"What do you think of this skirt? I think it brings out the green in your eyes." Misa asked, holding up a black miniskirt with dark green lace lining it.

"I think the same thing I've thought about all your choices…no way in hell." Hadi said bluntly. "I wouldn't be caught dead in something like that. It's way too short and frilly."

"But it's cute." Misa said as she looked the skirt over once again. "And I'm sure Light would agree with me. If you want to catch Light's attention you need to wear something like this. He won't be able to take his eyes off you, I guarantee it."

"And yet another reason why I don't want it." Hadi muttered. "Now can we please get out of here, I really want to head down to the bookstore and pick up a few books. I didn't bring any with me and Matsuda doesn't have anything other than picture books at his place. Why he has those I'll never know."

"It's settled then, I'll go and buy this and then we can go to your bookstore." Misa said with a smile as she headed towards the register.

"I said I didn't want…never mind." Hadi groaned. "You won't listen to me anyway so what's the point."

When Misa came skipping back a few minutes later, Hadi took the bag she offered and silently promised to burn it when she got home. There was no way she was ever going to wear that skirt. Since they were now done, the pair headed to the bookstore across the street so Hadi could buy some books. Of course if Hadi had known how Misa would act, she never would have mentioned going there.

"Wow, they have a book about Light here! Hadi come look!" Misa called excitedly, waving a book about the moon in the air. "It even has his name on the cover!"

Hadi smacked her forehead with her hand as the other customers began to stare at the blonde woman strangely. "It also has a giant picture of the moon on the front, but apparently she doesn't see that." Hadi grumbled under her breath as she grabbed her selections and headed over to Misa. "Would you please stop shouting?" Hadi hissed. "You're disturbing other people."

"But I wanted to show you this book about Light." Misa said, a small pout settling on her lips. "I thought you'd want to see it."

Misa began to sniffle, and Hadi's eyes widened. "O-of course I want to." She lied, trying to placate the older woman. "I just…um…you shouldn't…" Taking a breath, she tried again. "You don't need to shout, you could've just brought the book to me. Now let me see this stupid…I mean the book you found about Light." With a smile, Misa handed over the book and Hadi pretended to look through it. "…yeah, it's…uh…great." She said slowly. "Maybe you should get it."

"I think I will." Misa said, her smile growing wider as she walked over towards the registers.

"It's like dealing with a small child." Hadi said, rubbing her forehead to ward of her impending migraine. "And I thought Matsuda was bad, he's a walk in the park compared to Misa." Shaking her head, she followed the model to the front of the store and they waited to buy their books.

Forty five minutes later, Hadi had forgotten that Misa was well known and quite a few teens stopped them for autographs and pictures, they decided that a small rest was in order and sat down at a small coffee shop to grab something to eat.

"This place sells the best coffee around." Misa said happily as they waited for their orders to arrive. "And every Wednesday they have their muffins half off. Oh, but today is only Tuesday isn't it. Oh well, I still want my muffin anyway."

Hadi simply sat there quietly and half listened to Misa talk. She was still exhausted from dealing with all those squealing fan girls. 'And people wonder why I never want to be famous.' She thought to herself. 'I'd go insane if I had to put up with that shit on a regular basis.'

"...do you think?" Misa asked.

Looking up, Hadi blinked. "…sure?" She answered, hoping that Misa wouldn't realize she'd zoned out sometime during the conversation.

"That's wonderful, I'm sure everyone will be very surprised. And don't worry, you'll look great. I promise." Misa said with a large smile.

"Wait, what?" Hadi questioned. "What do you mean I'll look great?"

"In your new outfit of course." Misa said, looking at Hadi oddly. "You just said you wanted me to give you a makeover to go with your new skirt, and I'm very good at making people look good so of course you'll look great. Now how about we do this as soon as we get back, you can come up to my place and I'll get you all dressed up. Then you can go downstairs and show everyone your new style."

"I never agre-…" Hadi trailed off and dropped her head to the table. "I'm guessing that's what you asked me about earlier, right?" She mumbled.

"Of course silly, and you said yes." Misa said. "Now, what do you say about tonight? Does that work?"

Hadi mentally kicked herself for once again getting into a stupid situation. 'I really need to learn to keep my mouth shut. It would save me a lot of headaches.' She whined to herself. Then, taking a deep breath, she resigned herself to her fate. "Sure, tonight works. At least then it will be over quicker."

"Great, then we'll head back once we finish shopping." Misa said as she took her coffee from the waitress. "There are still so many stores I want to take you to. I'm sure you'll love them, they have such cute clothes."

"Whatever you say." Hadi muttered as she took a bite of her cake. "Just don't go overboard; I won't be wearing it for long."

If Misa heard Hadi she made no comment, instead picking up her muffin to take a bite. "I really do love this place; they make amazing blueberry muffins."

ooooo

Back at the Kira taskforce headquarters the day had gone by fairly smoothly. L and Light had worked on the computer while Soichiro, Aizawa and Matsuda went back to the police department to have a meeting with their supervisor. While the detectives were gone things were quiet and the two geniuses managed to get a lot accomplished. When the three detectives returned, it was obvious that the meeting hadn't gone well since they were very subdued. Without a word they took their seats and began to work on their assignments.

About an hour later, Soichiro stood up and walked over to Light and L. "It has been decided that the police department will cut all ties with us. They say that they are no longer going to oppose Kira. I tried to tell them that we were making progress, but it's already been decided." He said solemnly.

"You've got to be kidding." Light said with a frown. "The Japanese police force is just rolling over, how pathetic."

"True, but it was to be expected." L said. "Kira has everyone afraid for their lives; the high officials are no exception. Though I didn't think they would cave so quickly. A slight miscalculation on my part I'm afraid." Glancing over at Soichiro, he raised an eyebrow. "So, what will you do?"

"I will continue to work with you to catch Kira, as for the others, they are free to do as they wish." Soichiro stated.

Matsuda pumped his fist in the air enthusiastically. "I'll stay too Chief!" He cried.

Seeing four sets of eyes focused on him, Aizawa frowned slightly. "…I will be staying with the police force." He said finally. "I have a family to support and I can't afford to lose my job or benefits. I'll continue to help when I can, but I have to go back."

"We will no longer require your services then." L said boredly. "I will not be accused of having someone working on the inside, and it would also put you in danger. Once you leave, you'll no longer be a member of this taskforce."

"I'm ok with that." Aizawa said as he stood up and collected his coat. Nodding to the Chief and Matsuda, he turned and headed towards the door. "It was an honor working with you all." He said, and then with a quick wave he was gone.

"Dammit, how are we supposed to catch Kira if we keep losing detectives?" Soichiro muttered angrily. "And now that we're on our own we have no way of recruiting more."

"Well Mogi said he'd stay, he just doesn't get back for another day or so." Matsuda said. "So at least we're only down one person, it could've been worse."

"Matsuda, it can always be worse." L stated. "You should know that by now."

Not in the mood to listen to them bicker, Soichiro placed his hand on Matsuda's shoulder and led him towards his desk. "Why don't you help by going through the files we gave you three days ago." He said sternly. "I know your cousin's here, but that's no reason for you to be slacking off."

"Right, sorry Chief. I'll get right on it." Matsuda said with a salute.

Soichiro rubbed his forehead and took a deep breath. 'If we manage to catch Kira with this group, it'll be a miracle.' He thought as he went to sit down at his desk.

L, who had been slightly disappointed that his fun was cut short, turned back towards Light so they could continue their project.

ooooo

Several hours of shopping later, Hadi stumbled after a skipping Misa. "Would you slow down?" She growled. "We've been walking for hours and my feet hurt."

Misa paused and looked down at Hadi's feet. "Perhaps we should get you better shoes then. That will help." She said, turning towards yet another store.

"No, what would help is if I wasn't stuck carrying all this crap." Hadi snapped, adjusting one of the dozens of bags she was holding. "Why the hell do you need more clothes anyway, you have enough to clothe a third world country."

"Because they were cute, that's why." Misa replied. "And don't forget that some of that stuff is yours."

"Don't remind me." Hadi muttered.

Misa continued on, not even hearing Hadi's complaint. "I'm telling you, that shirt we got will go perfectly with your new skirt. They were meant to be together, it's a perfect match. Like me and Light." She finished with a giggle.

Hadi rolled her eyes. "I think I'm going to be sick." She said as she shifted from one foot to the other. Since Misa was starting _another_ Light moment, Hadi decided to intervene. "Whatever, do you think we could head back now, it's almost six-o'clock."

"Oh my, is it really that late?" Misa asked with a gasp. "I had no idea. Come on, we have to hurry. The others will be leaving soon and then they won't be able to see your new makeover." Grabbing Hadi's hand, she began to pull her down the street.

"Gee, wouldn't that be horrible." Hadi said sarcastically as she was drug across town.

Ten minutes, and two breathless women later, Misa and Hadi were once again standing at the entrance to the Kira headquarters, with no way to get it. Luckily, an old man appeared and opened the door for them. "Thanks Watari." Misa chirped as she took off upstairs.

"Yeah thanks." Hadi said. "I'm Hadi by the way, Matsuda's cousin. We've never met before." Holding out her hand, she waited for the man called Watari to do the same.

"It is very nice to meet you Hadi, my name is Watari. I guess you could say I'm L's guardian and friend." Watari said as he shook the young woman's hand.

"I still don't buy that he's L, but either way, I feel sorry for you. I'd shoot myself if I had to deal with that crazy guy all day." Hadi said somewhat jokingly.

Watari chuckled. "Yes, he can be a bit much to handle sometimes, but he means well." He said. "He simply doesn't understand things like proper etiquette and such; it comes from spending his entire life behind a computer screen. This is the first real human interaction he's had in I don't know how long."

Hadi opened her mouth to say something, then slowly closed it. There really wasn't anything she could say to that without coming across like a jerk.

Patting Hadi on the shoulder, Watari gave her a smile. "Just don't let it bother you too much, he really is trying." Turning to walk inside, he paused. "Oh, use this the next time you want to come in." He said, holding up a small piece of paper with a five digit number on it. "It will put you through to me and I'll buzz you in. There's no point in you standing around out here all day."

"Thanks." Hadi said as she took the paper.

"You're welcome." Watari replied as he walked inside and disappeared.

With a smile, Hadi pocketed the paper and headed inside. If she didn't get upstairs soon, Misa would probably call out the military to come find her. 'As crazy as that sounds, she would.' Hadi thought with a shake of her head. Stepping onto the elevator, she rode to the top floor and walked down the hall to Misa's room. Before she could even knock, the door was flung open and a far too excited Misa grabbed her and pulled her inside. 'I'm royally screwed.' Was the last thought Hadi had as the door closed behind her.

ooooo

Forty-five minutes later, Misa opened the door to her apartment and walked out proudly. "You look gorgeous; I'm such a genius when it comes to fashion." She said, clapping her hands in glee. "Now stop wasting time and get out here. We need to get you downstairs so everyone can see the new and improved you."

"There was nothing wrong with the old me." Hadi complained as she slowly stepped out into the hallway. "And why can't I wear a jacket or something, this shirt doesn't cover up very well."

"That's the point silly." Misa said as she adjusted the shoulder-less black velvet blouse Hadi was wearing with her new black and green lace skirt. "Besides, I let you get the longer one so stop complaining. Personally I think it would've looked better if you showed off your stomach a little though."

Hadi's eyebrow began to twitch and she clenched her fists so she wouldn't hit the blonde idiot. "Can we please get this stupid show of yours over; I really want to get out of these clothes."

"Of course, come on then." Misa said, clapping her hands together in a marching beat. "Let's get you downstairs so you can show yourself off!"

'Please let everyone be gone. Please let everyone be gone.' Hadi chanted over and over in her head the entire way down to the basement.

When the elevator dinged open, Misa swept out and cleared her throat to gain everyone's attention, then promptly paused. "Hey, where's Matsu and Dad?" She questioned. "They were here when we got back."

Light rolled his eyes at the fact that Misa was still referring to his father as 'dad'. "Yes, but that was almost an hour ago. Dad left so he could make it home in time for dinner and L sent Matsuda out to pick up something." He answered, before turning his back on her and focusing on the file he was going through.

"Well darn." Misa said with a frown. "I was hoping to show her off to everyone. Oh well, I guess we'll have to make do with just the two of you then." Before Light or L could decide whether or not they wanted to know what Misa was talking about, she disappeared down the hallway and came back in dragging a very pissed off Hadi. "Tada! Hadi's new look!" Misa said, sweeping her hand towards her new friend. "What do you think?"

"Who cares what they think." Hadi grumbled, wrapping her arms around herself self-consciously. "You only said I had to come down here, not hear what they had to say. I'm leaving." As she turned around to leave, Light smirked.

"I didn't know girls like _you_ wore skirts. Aren't they too girly for you? Isn't that why you always wear men's clothes? Or do you wear men's clothes because you wish to be one?" Light questioned rudely.

Misa opened her mouth to ask what Light was talking about, but L quickly covered it with his hand. He was curious to see how Hadi would react.

Hadi crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. Then she returned his smirk with one of her own. "Nah, I wear men's clothes because they're comfortable to work outside and lounge around in. Girls' clothes are too tight for shooting hoops or running through town. Now I've got a question for you. Do you wear women's pants because you want to be one, or are you just gay?"

Light's eyes widened and he began to sputter. "T-the hell did you just say?!" He shouted. "How dare you imply that I'm gay!"

"If the pants fit." Hadi said with a shrug.

"I'm not gay!" Light growled. "Take it back!"

"Freedom of speech asshole, I can say whatever the hell I want." Hadi replied, her smirk growing.

"That's it, I'm leaving." Light bit out. "I don't need to stay here and listen to her insults." Tossing his hair, he turned around and swept out of the room.

"If that doesn't scream gay, I don't know what does." Hadi said with a chuckle.

L, who had removed his hand from Misa's mouth once she found something else to focus on, faced the young woman. "Was that really necessary?" He asked. "Now we shall have to listen to Light go on and on about his masculinity and what not."

Hadi simply shrug nonchalantly. "Not really my problem, he asked for it."

"Isn't he so dreamy." Misa said suddenly, the abrupt topic change stunning the other two momentarily. "He's like prince charming. Don't you agree?"

Eyeing the blonde woman strangely, Hadi shook her head. How Misa managed changed topics so fast was a mystery, but then she probably had no idea what was going on anyway. "Yeah, right." She said with a snort.

Misa glanced over at her new friend. "Well that's no way to show that you'll miss him. There was no sighing, or tears, or anything. Aren't you even the least bit sad that our darling Light has left us for the night? Now we won't be able to see him until tomorrow morning."

"Oh no, my happily ever after just walked out the door. Whatever shall I do?" Hadi said sarcastically.

"See, I knew you wanted him to stay." Misa said with a smile, completely oblivious to the fact that Hadi didn't actually mean what she said. "Next time you should just be up front about your feelings, there's no reason to hide them."

Hadi opened her mouth, and then closed it. There really was no point trying to explain anything to Misa, it never worked. "Now that that's over with, I'm going to get changed." She said, and when Misa began to pout, she shook her head. "I did what I said I'd do, now don't whine."

"Alright, fine." Misa said with a frown. "I did promise after all."

"Thank you, I'll be back down shortly." Hadi said as she turned towards the door. Unfortunately, changing was going to have to wait since Matsuda chose that moment to walk in.

"The owner said he could have it ready within an hour so just give him a call before you have someone pick it up." Matsuda said as he read the note in his hand. "The other bakery doesn't carry the supplies, so you'll have to…" Looking up, he paused. His eyes widened as he took in Hadi's new outfit, and then narrowed when he saw how close she was standing to L. "Ok, now I know there's something going on between you two. What exactly did I interrupt, a date?" He asked, his tone demanding.

Hadi slapped her forehead and then took several calming breaths. It didn't work very well. "Matsuda, do you ever think before you speak?" She asked in annoyance. "You knew I was going shopping, with Misa for crying out loud, and now that I'm wearing something new you automatically assume I'm with the insomniac over there. And how exactly would we be on a date anyway? Misa's standing right over there." Waving her hand in the blonde model's direction, Hadi watched as Matsuda's eyes followed. "Get this through your thick skull. WE ARE NOT DATING!!"

Misa flinched at the tone and promptly decided that she should go somewhere else. So without so much as a sound, she slid out of the room and ran off. L on the other hand found this whole situation amusing. Watching Matsuda cower away from his much younger cousin was extremely entertaining.

"S-sorry." Matsuda whimpered as he took several steps back in fear. "I promise I won't say anything again, just please don't hurt me."

"Normally I'd beat you to within an inch of your life, but right now I only want to change out of these clothes and go back to your place to sleep. This day has been beyond exhausting."Hadi said. "Now don't say another word, and after I change I'll meet you at your car." With that, she turned around and disappeared out the door.

Matsuda rubbed the back of his head and took a deep breath. "That could've gone better." He mumbled.

"Perhaps you should take her advice and think before you speak. It will save everyone a lot of headaches." L said as he picked up a chocolate piece and popped it into his mouth.

"I'm only trying to look out for her." Matsuda continued on as though L had never spoken. "Ever since her dad left a few years ago, she's had a hard time. Mina's always working so Hadi had to practically raise herself. She may be tough, but I don't want her to fall for a bad guy and end up getting hurt."

As Matsuda continued to talk about Hadi's life, L raised an eyebrow. "Am I to assume you think I am a 'bad guy'?" L asked curiously.

Matsuda paused in his speech and looked over at L. "Of course not, you're L, the greatest detective in the world. Any girl would be lucky to have you." He replied.

"Then why do you keep going crazy anytime you think Hadi and I are together?" L questioned. "Not that I care either way, though your cousin is interesting there's nothing going on between us. I'm just rather curious as to your reactions."

"I…" Matsuda trailed off. "I really don't know." He continued after several seconds of silence. "You're right though; I should be encouraging her dating you. Other than your obvious lack of emotion, you'd be great for her. You can provide for her in both finances and intelligent conversation, and you're not exactly horrible looking either."

L froze. "Wait, I never said that." He said quickly. "Don't misinterpret what I was talking about."

Sadly Matsuda was already off in his own little world as he thought about how their life would be together. "You'd have to get a small house near her mother so we could see her when you're in the country. Oh, and let her get a puppy too. She's always wanted one."

With a thud, L's head dropped to the desk. "What have I done?" He asked no one in particular. "All I wanted was to gather information, not to imply I wanted to date Hadi. Obviously my curiosity has gotten me into serious trouble."

"Well I have to get Hadi home now; we'll talk more about your plans later. Bye." Matsuda said cheerfully, and with a wave he was gone.

After Matsuda left, and L was sitting in the room by himself, the young detective moved to a chair in the corner and began to chew on his thumb. That was how Watari found him in the morning, eyes wide, thumb between his lips and a look of utter confusion on his face.

ooooo

The ride back to Matsuda's house was silent. Hadi was still trying to calm down, and Matsuda was busy thinking about what Mina would think if Hadi came home engaged to the great L. When they got back, Hadi went to take a shower and Matsuda made them some dinner. Since he figured she was still upset, Matsuda finished his before she got out of the shower and headed to his room for the night.

When Hadi finished in the shower, she was actually rather calm. She'd realized that it was just Matsuda being his own stupid self and that maybe she'd been a little hard on him. However, when she went to the kitchen to apologize, she found that he'd already gone to bed for the night. 'Damn, I guess I'll just have to talk to him in the morning.' She thought with a shrug. Eating the plate he'd left for her on the table, Hadi brushed her teeth and went to bed. She was going to need all the sleep she could get if she was going to survive dealing with those people for the rest of the week.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own DeathNote or anything affiliated with said show. I also don't own RvB. I do however take full credit for Hadi and everything she says.

"Speaking"

'Thoughts'

* * *

Hadi yawned before rolling over and shutting off the alarm on her phone. Slowly, she stood up and stretched her arms behind her back. 'That's odd.' She thought to herself. 'Usually Matsuda's alarm wakes me up before my cell does. I wonder if he forgot to set it again.' Tossing the blankets back onto the mattress, she walked down the hall to her cousin's room. "Yo cous, it's time to get up." She called, pounding her fist on the door several times. "You don't want to be late two days in a row do you?"

Several seconds passed in silence and Hadi shook her head. "I have no idea how you've managed to make it through life without someone watching out for you." She muttered as she pushed open the door. "Rise and shi-." Pausing, Hadi glanced around the empty room. "Where the hell are you?" She asked. Tossing open the bathroom door, she still found no sign of her wayward cousin. "If you're hiding just so you can get out of going to work I'm going to kick your ass." She growled in annoyance as she headed towards the kitchen.

Matsuda wasn't in the kitchen either, but Hadi did find a small stack of bills and a hastily written note. Picking up the paper, she read it. _Hadi, L called me this morning and told me to come in right away. I'm not sure why, but it must be something very important if he called me. Maybe I'm getting a promotion…oh, wait, he can't promote me. Damn. Anyway, I left you money so you can catch a cab down here. I'll see you later. Matsuda._

Rolling her eyes, Hadi tossed the note in the trash and went to get dressed. There was really no point sticking around his apartment all day; not when she could help track down Kira.

ooooo

An hour later, Hadi handed the cab driver some money and walked into the underground entrance to the Kira headquarters. When she got to the doors, she hit a five digit sequence and waited for someone to answer. Moments later a staticy voice came over the speaker.

"May I help you?" The voice asked.

"Hey Watari, it's me Hadi." Hadi replied. "Can you let me in please?"

"Of course dear." Watari replied.

There were several beeps followed by a soft hissing noise and the main doors parted.

"Thanks." Hadi called out as she walked inside. Glancing around, she was surprised to see that L was the only one around. "Hey, sugar addict, where is everyone? Aren't the old guy and his annoying son usually here with you by now?"

Without looking up from his sundae, L spoke. "Mr. Yagami wasn't feeling well this morning so he decided to stay home, and Light-kun has class until four tonight. And since Matsuda is now Misa-Misa's manager he will be gone until this evening for her photo shoot. It will be just the two of us for some time."

"So that's what his new assignment was, I was wondering what you could possibly entrust to him. I guess that's a good job for him though, he can't really screw anything up." Hadi said as she pulled out her chair and sat down. "Then again, there's no telling what those two idiots will get themselves into." Crossing her arms behind her head, she leaned back slightly.

L nodded his head and turned to hand Hadi a small stack of files that were sitting next to him. "Here, since we have no distractions, we should be able to accomplish quite a lot." He said, holding the files between his thumb and forefinger. As Hadi reached over to take them, he cocked his head to the side curiously. "Which mountain top are you referring to, and why would seeing it make you a god?" L asked, waving his now free hand at her shirt.

"You don't know Red vs Blue?" Hadi asked, slightly surprised that someone who spends nearly every waking hour online hadn't heard of it. "It's a series of short episodes that use the Halo games and some very entertaining conversations. The show is hilarious." When L simply raised an eyebrow, she sighed. "What am I thinking; of course you haven't heard of it. I doubt you even know of the Halo video games."

"Actually, I have heard of the Halo series." L said before taking another bite of his ice cream. "They are a very popular series that follow the trials of Master Chief, the last of the Spartans. I read a review about it once."

"That…is quite surprising." Hadi said slowly. "I didn't know you read anything other than case files."

"When I'm bored I tend to read anything that pops up." L said with a small shrug. "Now please explain this mountain top your shirt refers to. All you said was that it has something to do with a funny series. That doesn't explain anything."

Hadi rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Well duh, I hadn't gotten to that yet. Excuse me for trying to give you a little background."

"I didn't ask for the background, I asked what your shirt refers too." L stated. "You simply assumed that I wanted to know."

"Argh." Hadi growled. "Whatever, do you want to know or not?" She asked angrily.

"If I didn't, I wouldn't have asked to begin with." L replied.

"Smartass." Hadi mumbled under her breath. Leaning in front of L, she clicked a few buttons with his mouse and then typed in a search request. "Here, it'll be easier if I just show you the episode." Clicking the link, she let the video play.

_A trumpet sounds and blue armored men come running out of their base yelling "Charge!"_

_Red armored men run out soon after and fighting and shouting ensues._

_Suddenly a red comes out of a base holding a large blue flag. "Stop fighting! Stop fighting, everyone, stop fighting!" He calls. "Everyone, everyone look unto me. I posses the blue flag!"_

_Another red says in awe. "It's more beautiful than I ever imagined."_

_The red holding the flag continues. "I have seen the top of the mountain and you will worship me as though I were a god."_

_A group of blues attack the red with the flag._

"_I regret nothing. I lived as few men dared to dream." The red says before dying._

_There is silence, then the fighting continues on as usual._

"There, do you get it now?" Hadi asked as she stopped the video.

L shook his head. "Not really, but I gather it's supposed to be funny." He said. "I don't really get the humor in it."

"Shocking." Hadi said sarcastically. "You don't get humor in general, what made me think you'd get RvB." When L opened his mouth, she waved her hand. "Never mind, that was a rhetorical question." When he shrugged and went back to his food, Hadi wondered why she'd even bothered. Then she remembered how Watari had talked about him and she decided to give the detective a chance. 'Besides, I deal with stupid on a daily basis, dealing with dense shouldn't be too difficult.' She thought as she sat back down and started going through the files.

ooooo

Several hours passed in silence until Hadi found a document for a different case. "Hey, Ryuzaki. What should I do with this file from the Midtown Massacre?" She asked, holding up the paper for him to see. "Since the case was solved do you want me to shred it?"

L looked up from his desk and cocked his head to the side. "No, I wish to keep that one. It's what I used to solve the case so I keep it as a memento of sorts." He replied a few moments later. "You may place it on the table over there."

"I just can't believe that you're L." Hadi said. "I idolized him growing up. He always solved every case he ever took on and was mysterious and cool. You're smart; I'll admit that, but really odd and slightly creepy. Definitely not what I pictured L would be like."

"Whether you believe I'm L or not makes no difference, I can only tell you that's who I am. It's up to you to decide for yourself if you wish to accept the truth, or deny it." L stated boredly. "Either way though, I would appreciate it if you'd put the paper over there like I asked."

Hadi rolled her eyes and stood up to drop the document on the table. "There, happy?" She asked sarcastically, heading back over to her chair. Sitting back down, she eyed the detective skeptically as he went back to his work. "So if you're L, then tell me, how many cases have you solved in the last year?"

"Including the ones I did as Eraldo Coil and Deneuve, or just the cases solved specifically by L?" L asked, turning to face Hadi directly.

"…wait, what?" Hadi asked in confusion. "No one said anything about those other detectives; I only wanted to know what _you_ solved. Why are you bringing them into this conversation?"

"I simply asked because those are also aliases that I go under." L replied. "However, if you wish to only know how many _L_ has solved… that would be 27. Not nearly as many as usual, but the Kira case has taken my undivided attention for some time now."

Hadi's mouth opened and closed several times as she tried to process what L said, and yes now she believed he was who he said he was. "Holy shit, you are L." She said finally. When L merely blinked, she smiled. "You have no idea how cool it is to finally meet you, I've been following your career for years."

"We met several days ago." L said, raising an eyebrow at the young woman. "Do you not remember?"

"I'm going to ignore that comment since I'm in such a good mood right now, but don't expect it to happen again." Hadi said, and L wisely kept his mouth.

ooooo

The next few hours passed by quickly and the two managed to get quite a lot finished. The files had nearly all been input into the computer and the list of subjects had been narrowed down to eight possibilities. Though narrowing it down more than that was going to take a few days. Since it was lunch time, L sent Watari out for some food and when it arrived the pair ate in comfortable silence.

"This sandwich is really good." Hadi commented as she took another bite.

"Yes, this bakery has the best bread around…they also have the best cheesecake." L stated as he picked up his fork. Taking a bite, he watched Hadi out of the corner of his eye. 'Strange girl.' He thought. 'She's really quite brilliant, but she doesn't flaunt her brains. She also has quite a nice body, but she hides it under baggy clothing. The exact opposite of Misa, I'm surprised Light dislikes her so much. They would make a very good pair.'

Ignorant to the fact the L was thinking about her and Light together, Hadi put down her sandwich. "I'm curious, how come you always hide in the shadows? You could solve the cases just as easily in person, but you choose to do so via computers. Aren't you lonely being by yourself all the time?"

"Not really." L said boredly. "I have Watari to keep me company. Besides, I'd rather not have to deal with people bothering me all the time. This way I can take the cases that I want and not have to worry about anything."

"I guess that makes sense, but if you don't get out more you'll never meet anyone new." Hadi said as she crossed her hands behind her head. "There are some rather fascinating people out there; you just have to find them."

"Why would I want to?" L questioned.

"I don't know, maybe to get a friend you can talk to. Or maybe even a girlfriend, though I can't imagine many people jumping at the chance to date you…no offence." Hadi replied.

L waved his hand dismissively. "None taken." He said. "But I have no desire to go out looking for either a friend or girlfriend; there are far too many cases that need to be solved. What about you, how many fascinating people have you met while out?"

Hadi tapped her chin in thought. "Come to think of it, you're the first fascinating person I've ever met." She said after several seconds of silence. "Everyone else has been rather boring."

"Then there is no reason I should get out more, is there?" L asked.

"…I guess not." Hadi replied with a shrug. Since the topic was now closed, she picked back up her sandwich and proceeded to finish it.

Once lunch was cleaned up, L began to play some music on his computer while he got back to work.

"That sounds a lot like Misa." Hadi mentioned from her seat. "Don't tell me she sings too."

"Of course, did you not know that?" L asked.

"Why would I know that, it's not like I actually spent any of the time I was with Misa getting to know her." Hadi said, rolling her shoulder to get a kink out. "Most of the time she spent blabbing about Light and how _perfect_ he is. It was so damn annoying."

Turning down the volume slightly, L turned to face Hadi once more. "What is wrong with Misa being so happy with Light?" L asked curiously. "Isn't that the type of thing most people wish to have?"

"I guess, but she acts like she's in some stupid fairytale and Light's her knight in shining armor. It's ridiculous." Hadi said with a snort. "She needs to grow up and realize that people are never as perfect as they appear and happily ever after is a joke."

L cocked his head to the side. "I gather you don't believe in fairytales then?" He asked.

"Of course not." Hadi replied. "Fairytales are stories you tell to little children so they can remain ignorant for longer, the real world is much crueler."

"This sounds like it comes from experience." L said, his thumb resting against his lip. "I take it you've had a harsh break up."

Hadi shook her head. "Not me, my parents." She said. "They were high school sweethearts and lived happily for many years, and then one day my father decides that he wants something else and begins to sleep around. My mom suspected that he was having an affair, but she had no idea he was sleeping with half of his female coworkers. By the time she had proof, he'd already gotten three women pregnant and was ready to be engaged to a third. Mom took it rather well, he actually survived the encounter, but she was really broken up by it. So no, I don't believe in happily ever after. It doesn't exist."

"I see." L said, and then he chose to change the subject. "I'm curious, what made you decide to become a lawyer instead of being a detective like your mother. I'm sure you'd be very good at it."

Grateful for the new topic, Hadi shrugged. "I don't really know. I always thought I would follow in mom's footsteps, but then one day I realized that I could do more good if I put the criminals in jail instead of simply finding them. So now I plan on becoming the best lawyer in Japan, then I can make sure that all the evil people out there get put where they belong." She said after some thought.

"Interesting, well I'm sure you'll be great no matter what you do." L said, his tone actually sounding somewhat encouraging as opposed to his normal monotone.

"Thanks." Hadi said with a smile. "Maybe someday I can prosecute a criminal you capture."

"Perhaps." L said as he turned back to his computer.

ooooo

At around eight that evening, Matsuda came walking inside the room. Pausing at the door, he called outside. "I'll see you tomorrow Misa, have fun at the club!" With a wave he turned back around and was about to walk to his desk when the sight before him made him freeze.

L ignored Matsuda and finished placing the blanket over Hadi's shoulders. Tucking it in so it wouldn't fall off, he walked back over to his chair and climbed onto it. "Good evening Matsuda, how was your day?" He asked, though it sounded like he really didn't care.

"Forget about my day, how was yours?" Matsuda asked excitedly. "Obviously you've gotten closer to her; has she agreed to go out with you yet?"

"I was simply making sure she didn't get cold." L stated. "She fell asleep a little while ago and so I had Watari bring her a blanket. Other than that, we worked all day. Nothing happened." The fact that he actually had gotten closer to Hadi over the course of the day was not something he ever planned on telling Matsuda. Even if they had only been passing the time with conversation, Matsuda would've taken things out of context and then he'd never get the man to shut up.

"Riiight." Matsuda said, winking conspiratorially at L. "You were only being polite, nothing's going on between you."

L sighed and shook his head. "I think you misunderstood things yet again." He muttered.

"Well I think I should get her home, I'm sure she'd be more comfortable in an actual bed instead of leaning against my desk." Matsuda said as he walked over and gently picked Hadi up. "I guess the last few days have been tiring for her, but I'm sure she'll be fine after a good night's sleep." Adjusting her weight, he headed towards the door. "We'll see you tomorrow L."

L nodded his head and turned back around. Now that everyone had gone home for the night, he settled into his chair and prepared for another sleepless night working on the case.

ooooo

Matsuda managed to get Hadi from the car to the house without waking her up, and after laying her down he covered her with a blanket and went to his room. He took a quick shower and then sat down on his bed and picked up his phone. Knowing that the other would still be awake, he punched in the number and waited for the other line to pick up.

"Hello, this is Mina." A female voice said.

"Hey Aunt Mina, I was just calling to let you know how things were going here." Matsuda said.

"I talked to you two days ago, how much could've changed in such a short amount of time?" Mina asked with a snort.

Matsuda paused. "…well nothing really. I just thought you'd want an update, that's all." He replied.

"Don't get me wrong, I care about Hadi and don't want anything to happen to her, but she can take care of herself, especially if it's only for five days. I'd be much more worried if I was gone for a month or something like that." Mina said. "But since you called me, how was your guys' day? Did anything interesting happen?"

"I spent the day with Misa, I'm her manager now." Matsuda said proudly. "We went to her photo-shoot and then I got to go to a fashion show with her. It was a lot of fun."

"Sounds fascinating." Mina said slightly sarcastically. "So what did Hadi do all day? You didn't leave her at the house did you; you know she tends to get into trouble when she's bored."

"No, I left her cab money to get to the taskforce headquarters. She spent the day working on the Kira case with L." Matsuda said. "You should see those two together; they're the perfect couple."

Mina took a little while to respond. "Wait, are you telling me she's working on the Kira case? How is that even possible? I was under the impression that the police backed out and are no longer opposing him, I heard my supervisor whining about how dangerous Kira was and how it's about time we dropped the case. Damn chickens, they give good cops a bad name." She said in annoyance.

"They did drop the case, but a few of us agreed to stay and help L." Matsuda said. "Me, the Chief and Mogi are still here. And Hadi's agreed to help out until she leaves."

"Yeah, she enjoys working cases, always has." Mina said with a smile, then her mind finally processed the rest of what her nephew had said. "Hold on a minute, what did you mean by Hadi and L being a couple? He'd better not be trying to take advantage of my daughter. Oh, wait, we're talking about L. Well then there's nothing to worry about, he won't ever do anything, never mind."

"But he said he was interested in her, and I've seen them together several times, one of which Hadi was dressed very suggestively." Matsuda protested. "There's definitely something going on between those two."

Despite the fact Matsuda couldn't see her, Mina rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you're just imagining things Matsuda. Hadi doesn't dress suggestively, and L doesn't seem the type to tell other people who he's interested in. So the only conclusion I can come to is…you're wrong."

"I'm telling the truth!" Matsuda whined. "They try to hide it, but I can tell that they're sneaking around together behind everyone's back."

"I highly doubt that, Hadi's never been one to hide anything. If she wants to do something, she does it, others be damned." Mina replied. "Besides, even if they are together, which I know they're not, who cares. Hadi's old enough to make her own decisions in life and if she wants L, then good for her. There are worse men she could choose."

"…so you don't care that they're a couple?" Matsuda asked several seconds later.

"I already told you they're not a couple, but even if they were I wouldn't care." Mina replied.

"That's great, now I can help them out. I wasn't sure if you'd be ok with them being together so I had to check, but now that I know you're fine I'll support them all the way." Matsuda said happily. "I've already told L that he needs to get them a house near you so we can visit them, and I also mentioned the fact that Hadi's always wanted a puppy. Anything else I should make him aware of?"

Mina simply shook her head. "I'm going to bed now, goodbye Matsuda." And before he could say another word, she hung up the phone. 'I'm beginning to regret sending Hadi to stay with him, there's no telling how screwed up she'll be when she comes back.' She thought.

Matsuda looked at the phone and frowned. "I really need to call the phone company. Every time I talk to Aunt Mina we always get disconnected." He muttered. Hanging up the phone, he pulled back the covers and climbed into his bed. 'I can't wait to tell L, he'll be thrilled to know Mina's given him her approval. Maybe now they'll bring their relationship public.' He thought as his eyes slowly closed and he drifted off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own DeathNote or anything affiliated with said show. I also don't own RvB. I do however take full credit for Hadi and everything she says.

"Speaking"

'Thoughts'

* * *

When Hadi woke up the next morning it took her a few minutes to realize where she was. Though the kitten posters and flower curtains helped give her a better idea of her location. Her cousin really needed to hire an interior designer, or at least stop buying such girly furnishings. "Matsuda must have brought me back last night while I was asleep." Hadi murmured with a yawn. "I don't know why he didn't just wake me up, but I guess I should thank him all the same." Stretching, she stood up and got dressed before heading to the kitchen to grab some breakfast.

Matsuda smiled when Hadi walked into the kitchen. "Good morning, did you sleep well?" He asked curiously.

"Yeah, and thanks for bringing me back last night. But you could've woke me up you know, you didn't have to let me sleep." Hadi said, grabbing a bowl from the cupboard and pouring herself some cereal.

"I know, but you looked so tired that I just couldn't." Matsuda said with a shrug.

It was silent for the next few minutes while the two ate their breakfast. Once they were finished, Hadi did the dishes while Matsuda finished getting ready for work. They met at the door five minutes later and headed off to the Kira taskforce headquarters.

Hadi leaned her head against the car window and watched the scenery pass them by as Matsuda sped down the freeway. "Can I ask you a question cous?" She asked a few minutes into the drive.

"Sure, go ahead." Matsuda replied, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Aren't you afraid of dying? I mean, you're working on the Kira case and all. Don't you ever worry that he might get your name and kill you too?" Hadi questioned.

Matsuda paused for a second. "What brought this up?" He asked in return.

"Just curious I guess. You always seem so cheerful when you go to work; it's hard to imagine that you're working the most difficult case anyone's seen in years. I know your job always comes with some degree of danger, but Kira is not a normal killer. He can do things that should, by rights, be impossible." Hadi replied. "I've watched how you've acted these last few days, and I'm beginning to wonder if you actually grasp the severity of your situation."

"I may not act like it, but I'm just as scared as the rest of the guys I work with." Matsuda said quietly. "We're all aware that we could be killed at any moment, but I prefer to look on the bright side of things. If I ever stopped to actually think about everything that's going on, I'd probably crack. So instead I continue to go through my days with a smile on my face instead of worrying about what might happen."

Hadi turned to face her cousin and gave him a small smile. "Then I guess there's no reason for me to worry about you huh. You've got it all figured out." She said, patting his arm softly. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't in over your head, family's got to look out for each other after all."

"Awe, how sweet." Matsuda cooed, glad that the slightly morbid conversation was finished. "My little cousin's trying to take care of me. Your mom would be so proud."

"Shut up." Hadi growled as she punched him lightly on the arm.

Laughing, Matsuda pulled into the garage and parked his car. "It's nice to know you care though." He said as he stepped out of the car. "It means a lot."

Hadi narrowed her eyes as she followed her cousin to the door. "If you tell anyone about me being nice, I'll kick your ass." She said with a scowl. "I have a reputation to uphold you know."

Ruffling his cousin's hair, which earned him another punch to the arm; Matsuda grinned and typed in the password. Once his eye was scanned, he pushed opened the door. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say…you big softy." With a chuckle, he quickly ducked inside before Hadi could react.

"Matsuda, I'm going to kill you!" Hadi called after him.

When the two came running into the room, Matsuda laughing and Hadi yelling, the other occupants glanced over briefly to make sure there wasn't going to be any damage caused by the fight, and then went right back to work. There really was no need to do anything else, their fights usually ended rather quickly.

And as if to prove that point, Hadi finally caught up with Matsuda and put him in a head lock. Seconds later, Matsuda cried uncle and the pair separated with a smile. "I can't believe it; you manage to beat me every time." Matsuda grumbled as he pulled off his coat and tossed it over the back of his chair.

"That's because while you were growing up you did baseball, I on the other hand took twelve years of karate and aikido." Hadi said, plopping down in her seat. "I'd be a wuss too if all I did were boring sports."

"I'm not a wuss." Matsuda whined. "Take that back."

Hadi smirked. "Of course you are, practically everyone in our family can kick your ass. It's actually rather pathetic."

Matsuda frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "Meany, I don't like you anymore."

"Whatever you say cous." Hadi said, tousling Matsuda's hair and chuckling.

Light rolled his eyes as he watched them out of the corner of his eye. "They act so immature; why are they here again?" He asked in annoyance. "I'm sure Matsuda would be much better suited for traffic control or something."

"Ah, but what Matsuda lacks in brains, he makes up for in spirit." L said, startling Light slightly. "And Hadi has more than earned her place here, it's a shame she'll be leaving us soon. The case would likely be solved quicker if we had more people like her around."

Light snorted as he closed a window on the computer before him. "One of her is more than enough." He muttered.

Just then Soichiro and another man came walking in together. "So how is your mother doing Mogi? Did the doctor say she could leave the hospital soon?" Soichiro asked as they both removed their coats and hung them on the rack.

"Yes, she should be out next week." Mogi replied softly.

"That's good to hear." Soichiro said, patting the other detective on the shoulder. "Well nothing's really changed around here. We narrowed down the list of suspects, but unfortunately it'll take a few days to check them all out. Oh, and Matsuda's cousin Hadi is here for a couple of days." He finished, pointing towards where Hadi was sitting.

Mogi glanced in that direction and nodded his head, but before he could do anything else, L spoke up.

"Ah, Mogi, just the man I wanted to see." L said, turning his chair so he could face him. "Since you're the best at filing things, I've left you a large stack of files that need to be organized, first by company, then by date. I know you've just gotten back, but I would appreciate it if you could get started right away."

Mogi nodded his head once more and headed over to his desk. Taking a seat, he picked up the first file and leafed through it.

"Who's that?" Hadi asked curiously, pointing towards the quiet newcomer. "I've never seen him before."

Matsuda looked up from his screen and followed Hadi's finger. "Oh, that's Mogi, he's also a detective. He took a few personal days to go and see his mom in the hospital so this is the first time you've seen him here. He's really quiet though, doesn't talk unless it's really important."

"Sometimes that's a good thing." Hadi said as she turned back to her computer. "Maybe you should try to be more like him."

"Did you say something?" Matsuda asked.

"Nothing." Hadi replied. "Just go back to work."

Matsuda shrugged. "Alright then." He said slowly.

ooooo

Several hours later the room had gotten very quiet since most everyone had left to take a short break. So when a loud beep suddenly blasted through the speakers, L and Soichiro were slightly startled. L blinked, and then slowly hit a button on his keyboard. After viewing the image, he looked back over his shoulder. "Mr. Yagami, your wife is at the door. I'm letting her in now."

"Thank you L." Soichiro said as he stood up and headed towards the door.

"Hello dear." The woman said as she stepped into the room. With a smile, she gave Soichiro a quick kiss on the cheek. "I've brought you a change of clothes and some lunch."

"Thank you Sachiko." Soichiro said, a small smile gracing his lips as he took the bag from his wife. "I haven't eaten since last night."

Sachiko shook her head. "You really should take better care of yourself or you'll burn out." She said softly. Seeing Soichiro nod, she smiled. "Well I should probably get back and finish getting dinner ready, and I still have to stop at the store to get a few things."

Just then Light and Misa came in. "I already told you I'm busy tonight." Light said. "I'm having dinner with my family. Oh, hello mother." Removing Misa's hand from his arm, he walked over and gave his mother a brief hug. "How are you today?" He asked politely.

"Hi mom!" Misa chirped happily. "It's good to see you again."

"I'm fine Light dear." Sachiko told her son before turning to face Misa. "It's good to see you as well Misa, Light doesn't bring you by very often anymore so I haven't seen you in awhile."

"That's because I've been really busy lately." Light said. "You know that."

"I know, but I wish you would come home more than once or twice a week. I like to know how things are going in your life." Sachiko replied.

Before Light could respond, Matsuda came running into the room. "Please, you've gotta save me!" He cried. "Hadi's really going to kill me this time!"

"Matsuda, I've told you a thousand times to keep your mouth shut." Hadi growled as she stormed through the door. "But could you do that, no. Instead you just had to make some stupid ass comment about making sure to save myself until we're married. Get it through your head, there is no relationship, has never been any relationship and even if there was it'd be none of your business. So shut the hell up!"

"Who's that dear?" Sachiko asked as she watched Matsuda run from a young woman who looked like she was ready to tear him limb from limb.

"That's Matsuda's cousin Hadi." Soichiro replied. "You know, Mina's daughter. You met her when she was about ten at the office Christmas party. She was the one who poured punch all over Light's new shirt."

"Ah yes, I remember. She looked so cute in that little dress of hers." Sachiko said with a smile. Giving her husband a pat on the arm, she walked over to the fuming woman. "Hello Hadi, I don't know if you remember me, but I'm Sachiko, Light's mother."

Hadi paused and dropped the scissors she'd been waving at Matsuda. Turning around, she cocked her head to the side and looked at the woman who'd spoken to her. Several seconds passed before her eyes widened and she smiled. "You're the pretty lady at the Christmas party who kept giving me cookies." She said happily. "Mom was so mad at you; she said I had a sugar high for a week." As she walked over to give her a hug, the rest of what Sachiko said sunk in. "Wait, you're Light's mom?" She asked suddenly. "That means that Light was that annoying kid who wouldn't stop pestering me, well at least until I doused him in punch that is." Hadi finished with a smirk.

"That was you?!" Light shouted angrily.

Ignoring her son's outburst, Sachiko nodded. "Yes, I can't believe you remember us. It's been so long since we've seen you." She said with a smile.

"That was the last time we went to one of those Christmas parties so I remember the whole thing fairly well." Hadi said, her voice turning slightly hard.

Sachiko's eyes softened and she pat Hadi's arm reassuringly. "Well we missed seeing you, didn't we dear?" The look on her face when she said that told Light to agree or else, so he narrowed his eyes and nodded his head curtly. Suddenly Sachiko clapped her hands together, startling Hadi, Light and Misa who'd followed after Light sometime during the conversation. "Why don't you come and have dinner with us tonight?" She asked. "I'm making roast and I'm sure everyone would love to have you there."

"Well, I do-." Hadi began, only to be cut off.

"And you come too Misa." Sachiko said. "We can all catch up, it'll be fun."

"Yay!" Misa said cheerfully. "Dinner with Light and his family!"

Hadi's head dropped and she sighed in defeat. "Sure, why not. I'll have dinner with you guys tonight." She said.

Sachiko smiled brightly. "That's wonderful, I'll see you both tonight." Patting Light on the cheek, she turned around and headed towards the door. "Dinner's at seven, make sure you're not late." She said, and then with a small wave she was gone.

Light turned narrowed eyes at Hadi. "I don't care if my mother does like you. Keep your mouth shut at dinner tonight or there will be hell to pay." He bit out before turning on his heel and storming off.

"Wait Light, I'll come too." Misa called after him as she ran to catch up.

Hadi shook her head and went back over to sit by Matsuda. "I guess I won't be having dinner with you tonight." She told him.

"Oh that's all right, I'll just order some takeout." Matsuda said. "You go and have fun with Light and his family."

'Yeah, some fun.' Hadi thought with a snort. 'I'm forced to spend dinner with an annoying blonde and her equally annoying and extremely irritating boyfriend. At least his parents are nice though, maybe I'll talk to them all night.'

ooooo

A few hours later most everyone had gone home for the night with the exception of Hadi who was catching a ride to the Yagami's house with Misa a little later. Stretching her arms above her head, Hadi glanced over at L. "Do you ever leave this room?" She asked curiously.

L looked up from his computer screen and finished his bite of cake. "Not very often." He replied boredly. "I do not sleep that much so there is no reason for me to leave here."

"I guessed as much what with those bags around your eyes and all, but don't you ever go outside to get some fresh air? I've never seen you take a break or anything." Hadi asked.

"Occasionally I go to the roof, but that is all." L said as he took another bite.

Hadi stood up and walked over to his chair. "That settles it then, you're coming with me." Pulling the chair back, she nudged L so he would stand up, which of course he didn't. When L simply stared at her like she was crazy, Hadi rolled her eyes. "Get up; you're going on a walk with me."

"Why?" L asked curiously.

"Why not?" Hadi questioned with a shrug. "It's nice outside and we could both use some fresh air." When L looked ready to decline, she shook her head and grabbed his arm. "I won't take no for an answer. Now get up and let's go."

L raised an eyebrow and then stood up and allowed himself to be pulled towards the door. Ignoring the fact that this was the first time he'd ever let anyone order him around, he reluctantly put on his worn out sneakers and followed a smiling Hadi outside into the cool evening air.

"There, isn't this better?" Hadi asked after taking several deep breaths. "No stuffy smells, just crisp clean air."

"It does smell nicer out here." L commented offhandedly.

"See, I told you. Now let's go." Hadi said, wrapping her arm around his. Feeling L tense, she rolled her eyes. "Look, we won't go very far, maybe around the block or something. I promise you won't die from exhaustion."

L shook his head slowly. "Fine." He agreed.

Hadi smiled brightly and began to lead L down the sidewalk. "I knew you'd come around." She said happily.

They walked together in relative silence, simply enjoying the night air and each other's company. Occasionally Hadi would point out a constellation and ask L which one it was, and then they would fall back into their comfortable silence once again.

The walk lasted a little over twenty minutes and when they walked back inside the building, L silently admitted to himself that he actually didn't want it to end. He'd rather enjoyed the time he'd spent with Hadi, and he felt extremely relaxed. Kicking off his shoes, he typed in his code and the doors opened. Once inside, he waited for Hadi to join him before closing the doors.

"Thanks for going with me." Hadi said, a soft smile gracing her lips. "It was nice."

L nodded his head before heading back over to his chair.

"You know, it's ok to admit you enjoyed yourself." Hadi said with a smirk. "I won't tell anyone."

L never got a chance to respond since Misa chose that moment to enter the room. "There you are Hadi, it's time to leave." She said, grabbing her friend's arm. "We don't want to be late for dinner."

Hadi groaned as she was drug off by Misa. When they reached the door, she smiled and waved at L before disappearing.

Without thought, L's hand returned the wave. Looking at his hand oddly, he shrugged his shoulders slightly and turned back towards his computer. Now was not the time to ponder why his body reacted the way it did, he had a murderer to catch. As he settled into his chair for the night, he couldn't stop his eyes from periodically glancing over at Hadi's empty chair. 'I fear it is going to be a rather long night.' He thought with a sigh.

ooooo

Once they climbed into Misa's car, the ride to the Yagami's was thankfully rather quiet and Hadi was able to close her eyes and think for awhile. 'I can't believe L went for that walk with me, even if I did sort of force him into it. Though if he truly hadn't wanted to come, I doubt the hounds of hell could've made him move.' She thought, the visual making her grin. 'So I guess that means he really didn't mind going out with me then.' That thought left her in a good mood and when they arrived, Hadi climbed out of the car with a smile on her face.

Misa saw the smile and immediately grabbed onto Hadi's arm. "I know, it's wonderful right." She said excitedly. "Being invited to your true love's house for dinner."

"Yeah, I'm not sure why he went, but I'm glad he did." Hadi replied distractedly.

"…um, what are you talking about?" Misa asked, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Hadi blinked, and then shook her head. "Nothing, I guess I was spacing out." She replied. "Let's go get this fiasco over with." Heading towards the front door, she was joined a second later by a skipping Misa. As Hadi took a deep breath and tried to prepare herself for the next few hours, Misa raised her hand to the door and knocked.

A few seconds later the door opened and Sachiko's head poked out. "Oh, hello girls." She said cheerfully. "Come on inside and take a seat, dinner will be ready in just a few minutes." Motioning towards the living room, she waited for the girls to enter before closing the door and heading towards the kitchen. "If you need anything I'm right in here." She said with a smile.

"Ok mom!" Misa called after her. Grabbing Hadi's hand, she pulled her towards the couch and they both sat down. "So what do you think of Light's house, nice isn't it?" She asked.

Glancing around, Hadi shrugged. "I guess." She replied boredly. I mean really, it looked like every other house on the block.

Just then a young girl came running down the stairs and into the kitchen. "I'll see you later mom, I'm having dinner at Kana's house." And with a quick wave, she ran to the door and left.

"Wait Sayu, I want you to meet…never mind." Sachiko said, shaking her head. Sticking her head out of the kitchen, she smiled. "And that would be my daughter Sayu, I had planned on introducing the two of you, but I suppose that'll have to wait for another time."

"Don't worry about it." Hadi said. "We were all like that at some point."

Sachiko chuckled. "True." She said as she ducked back into the kitchen.

The two remained sitting on the couch in silence for several more minutes until the front door opened once more. Soichiro walked in, and after removing his shoes, walked over to the kitchen. "Here you go dear; I got that bread you wanted." Placing the bag on the counter, he kissed his wife on the cheek.

"Thank you." Sachiko replied. "Why don't you go call Light down and tell the girls that dinner is ready while I finish setting the table."

"Sure." Soichiro said as he left the kitchen. "Hello Misa, Hadi." He said with a nod as he entered the living room. "Dinner is ready so you can go in and take a seat."

"Thanks." Misa chirped, jumping up and heading towards the table.

Hadi shook her head and stood up to follow. "Almost makes you wish you were still at work huh?" She asked with a grin.

Soichiro glanced around quickly before nodding his head. "Yes, but don't tell anyone I said that." He said with a smile.

With a small laugh, Hadi went to join Misa at the table.

Shaking his head, Soichiro headed up the stairs and knocked on Light's door. "Light, dinner is ready. It's time to come down now." He called out.

"I'll be there in a minute." Light's muffled voice replied.

Turning around, Soichiro headed back downstairs to join everyone else at the table. Pulling out his chair, he took a seat. "He said he'd be right down." He told his wife.

"Well how about we start eating then." Sachiko said as she stood up to grab the food. "I'm sure Light won't mind us starting without him." Placing the pot roast in the center of the table, she picked up the serving fork and placed it on the plate. "Ok everyone, eat up." She finished with a smile.

Shortly after everyone had filled up their plates, Light came down to join them. "Sorry I took so long, I had to finish up the essay I was working on." He said, taking the only available seat, which happened to be next to Misa and across from Hadi. 'Just my luck.' He thought sourly. 'Not only did they both actually decide to come, but I'm stuck sitting next to them. Could this night get any worse?'

The first few minutes of dinner were quite pleasant since everyone was too busy eating to talk, however, that quickly changed once their mouths were empty. "So Hadi, what are you doing now?" Sachiko asked politely. "Have you graduated yet?"

"Yeah, I just graduated and I'm getting ready to start at Tokyo University soon. I'm going to be a lawyer." Hadi said proudly.

Before Sachiko could respond, Light snorted. "You, a lawyer, hah. You're more the type to need one." He said rudely.

"Light, apologize to our guest." Soichiro said sternly. "You've no right to insult her; she hasn't done anything to you."

Ignoring his father, Light crossed his arms. "Besides, what respectable law firm would ever hire someone like you? You're mouthy and have a nasty temper." He continued, a smirk forming on his face.

Sachiko's eyes widened while Soichiro's narrowed dangerously, but before either could say a word, Hadi began to chuckle. "Wow, I never thought you'd be the jealous type." She said with a grin. "I know I'm smart and all, but to have a self proclaimed genius worried that I'll surpass him, damn."

"Who the hell said I was jealous of you?!" Light sputtered.

"You did. Usually the only reason someone continuously puts another person's dreams or ideas down is because they're afraid they'll succeed." Hadi replied. "And the only thing I can conclude from that is you're afraid I'll be an amazing lawyer and take away your spotlight. You're so used to people thinking you're the best there ever was, you can't handle it when someone else threatens to surpass you."

Sachiko covered her mouth in shock and Soichiro shook his head at her. It was best to let those two deal with their own issues now, there was nothing they could do to help. Besides, though he wouldn't admit it out loud, Soichiro was actually enjoying seeing his son taken down a few pegs. Sure he loved him dearly, but the boy was as self-centered and spoiled as they come.

"As if I would feel threatened by you, you're not nearly as smart as I am." Light responded with a snort.

"Perhaps not, but book smarts aren't everything. Without street smarts you won't survive long in this world, people will eat you alive. I'm surprised you didn't know that though, since you want to become a detective and all." Hadi said as she sat back in her chair. "Even L knows you can't learn everything from books, but then you're not nearly as smart as he is, are you?"

Light jumped up, startling Misa out of her daze. "Are you ok Light?" She asked curiously, obviously having no clue about the conversation that was currently taking place.

Shrugging off Misa's hand, Light slammed his own down on the table. "How dare you imply that I'm inferior to L!" He hissed angrily. "If anything, we are equals."

"Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night." Hadi replied with a shrug.

With a growl, Light was about to jump over the table and strangle the impudent woman when Soichiro suddenly stood up. "Ok, that's enough you two." He said sternly. "Light, why don't you and Misa go outside and take a walk." When Light looked ready to protest, Soichiro narrowed his eyes. "Now." He growled.

"Oh goody, a moonlit stroll." Misa said happily, standing up and taking Light's arm. "This'll be so romantic."

Giving Hadi one last glare, Light allowed himself to be drug off by a giggling Misa. 'Damn that woman.' He thought angrily. 'How dare she say those things to me.'

Hadi rubbed her forehead and then bowed her head. "I apologize for my behavior. I should not have reacted the way I did." She apologized. "Especially since you were nice enough to invite me to your house for dinner."

Sachiko waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it dear, he did start it after all. And though it's unusual for him to show it, Light also has a bit of a temper himself." She replied. "He does however need another lesson in manners."

"Which he will most definitely be getting." Soichiro said with a shake of his head.

"Dinner was excellent you guys, but I think I should probably leave before those two get back. Wouldn't want to start another fight." Hadi said as she stood up.

"Thank you for coming, and I hope the rest of the evening was pleasant enough." Sachiko said with a smile as she walked the young woman to the door. "Would you like some bus fare?" She asked politely.

"Nah, I've got it covered." Hadi said with a grin, and then she turned to wave at Soichiro. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow, and Sachiko, maybe I'll see you again sometime."

"Goodbye Hadi." Soichiro said, returning her wave and then wrapping an arm around his wife.

"Yes, goodbye." Sachiko said.

Nodding her head one last time, Hadi walked outside and headed towards the bus stop just down the street. Thankfully she wasn't all that far from Matsuda's place.

As they watched her leave, Soichiro sighed. "That girl sure has a mouth on her doesn't she." He muttered.

Sachiko smiled. "Yes, but it was actually quite interesting watching those two argue. They know just which buttons to push to get a reaction. I haven't seen Light that animated during a conversation in years. I think meeting Hadi was good for him." She said softly. "As long as they don't spend too much time together of course. I get the feeling those two would destroy everything around them during their fights."

ooooo

Hadi took a deep breath once she'd gotten to the bus stop, sure dinner had been interesting, but she hoped she'd never have to do it again. Staring up at the stars, she mentally berated herself for the way she'd acted. So Light was being an ass, that was no reason for her to attack him the way she had. 'I wonder what it is about that guy that rubs me the wrong way.' She thought curiously. 'Every time I see him I just want to pound that stupid smirk off his face.' Her thoughts were cut off as the bus arrived and she climbed onboard. Handing over the money, she took a seat in the back and relaxed. It was at least a thirty minute ride back.

ooooo

Matsuda was finishing up his dishes when the front door opened and Hadi came walking in. "Hello Hadi, did you have a good time at dinner?" He asked, tossing the sponge back in the sink.

"That depends on your definition of a good time." Hadi replied with a shrug. "If you enjoy scathing conversations and biting remarks, then yes. Otherwise I'd have to say no."

"…do I even want to know what happened?" Matsuda questioned.

"Nothing really." Hadi said as she took off her shoes and jacket. Tossing them on the floor, she headed towards her room. "Light made some rude comment and I just couldn't help myself."

Matsuda's shoulders drooped. "Please tell me you didn't do anything too horrible. I still have to work with them you know." He whined.

"Hey, he asked for it." Hadi said, crossing her arms and giving her cousin a glare. "So don't go getting all mad at me."

"That may be true, but you're not the one who'll be hearing about this for the next month." Matsuda complained. "At least tell me you didn't upset the Chief too."

"Nah, the Old Guy and the Pretty Lady were cool with it. A little annoyed maybe, but other than that they were fine." Hadi replied. "Now if you don't mind, I'm really tired and want to get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

Matsuda blinked when the door closed in his face. "…uh, good night then." He said slowly. Scratching the back of his head, he turned around and headed towards his room. "I think maybe I'll take the day off tomorrow, just to let things cool down a little. I'd rather not face those two when they're angry." Decision made, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed L's number.

Two rings later, a voice answered. "What is it Matsuda?" L asked.

"Well, I was wondering if I could take tomorrow off. You know, spend some time with Hadi before she heads home." Matsuda said.

"This request wouldn't happen to have anything to do with her dinner with the Yagami's would it?" L questioned.

"…how did you know?" Matsuda asked in shock.

"Light has been talking nonstop for the last fifteen minutes on the other line." L stated. "From what I actually listened to, it sounds like dinner was very interesting."

Matsuda gulped; maybe he should take off the next week. Yeah, like L would allow that. "Interesting is a good term for it from what Hadi's told me." He said slowly. "So, about taking tomorrow off?"

"Take it." L said suddenly. "It's for the best. Light wouldn't be of any use to me if either you or Hadi showed up tomorrow, and neither would Soichiro. So don't come in tomorrow."

"Wow, thanks." Matsuda said happily. "I'm sure Hadi will be thrilled."

"Is that all Matsuda?" L asked.

"Yes, goodnight L." Matsuda said.

L sighed. "That's Ryu-…never mind. Goodbye Matsuda." He said as he hung up the phone.

Matsuda smiled as he put his phone on his dresser. "Now Hadi and I can spend the whole day together tomorrow; we'll have so much fun." And with that, he climbed under the covers and fell fast asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own DeathNote or anything affiliated with said show. I also don't own RvB. I do however take full credit for Hadi and everything she says.

"Speaking"

'Thoughts'

* * *

With a yawn, Matsuda walked into the kitchen and poured himself a bowl of cereal. Grabbing a spoon, he took a seat next to his cousin and began to eat. "So, what would you like to do today?" He asked curiously. "I took the day off since you're leaving this afternoon. I thought we could spend the day hanging out together. What do you think?"

"Sounds fine to me." Hadi said between bites. "What did you have in mind?"

Matsuda tapped his chin in thought. "How about we go see a movie and then have lunch in town. Then afterwards we can stop by the headquarters and you can say goodbye to everyone before I drop you off at the train station. Does that sound ok?"

"Sure, I've been wanting to see Sherlock Holmes again." Hadi said with a nod.

"…but I wanted to see Avatar again." Matsuda said with a pout.

Hadi rolled her eyes. "Why does that not surprise me?" She asked. "You've got about fifteen movie stubs for that show and even several posters of it in your room."

"It's a good movie." Matsuda replied defensively.

"I never said otherwise." Hadi said, holding up her hands in surrender. "I was simply stating a fact."

"So does that mean we can go see it again?" Matsuda asked eagerly.

Looking at her cousin's pleading eyes, Hadi sighed. "Yeah, sure, we'll go see Avatar." She agreed. "But you damn well better buy me some popcorn and a drink since we're seeing _your_ movie."

"No problem!" Matsuda said happily. "I'll even get you a box of candy if you want." Smiling widely, he clapped his hands together and jumped up to get ready. "I get to go see Avatar; I get to go see Avatar." He sang.

'He's just like a little kid.' Hadi thought with a small smile. 'And as annoying as that makes him, it's still kinda cute.' Picking back up her spoon, she finished her cereal and went to get dressed.

Once she was dressed, Hadi packed up her things and folded the blankets that she'd used. Placing them on top of the mattress, she picked up her bag and went to wait by the door. Or at least she'd planned on waiting. The minute she stepped into the room, Matsuda jumped up and headed towards the door.

"It's about time, you took forever getting ready." Matsuda said as he pulled open the door and practically skipped outside. "I hope we don't miss the first showing."

Hadi rolled her eyes and followed her cousin to his car. Tossing her bag in the back, she climbed in the passenger seat and buckled up. "Even if we do, they have another one in thirty minutes so there's nothing to worry about."

"I know, but the first showing's always the best. There aren't a lot of people and you can really get comfortable." Matsuda said, putting the car into drive and pulling onto the street. "Those theater seats are always so cramped."

The rest of the short drive was made in silence; in fact neither of them said anything until they arrived at the ticket booth. Then Matsuda's chanting began anew.

"I get to see Avatar. I get to see Avatar." Matsuda sang happily as he pulled out his wallet to buy the tickets.

"Would you shut up." Hadi groaned. "You're really starting to get on my nerves."

"Sorry." Matsuda apologized. "I just can't help myself, I love this movie."

"That's great, but you really don't need to keep repeating yourself." Hadi said as they walked inside. "I think by now everyone within a half mile radius knows you like Avatar."

Matsuda scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "What can I say, I'm excited." He said.

"Whatever, but you'd better keep your mouth shut during the movie. I have some duct tape I keep in my backpack and I have no problem getting it." Hadi said sternly.

Eyes widening, Matsuda nodded his head and proceeded to buy Hadi the snacks he'd promised. Hadi and duct tape were a dangerous combination, and he would know. The last time she'd taped him up, he was stuck for three hours. It was horrible. Picking up the popcorn while Hadi grabbed her candy and pop, they headed into the theater.

ooooo

Three hours later Matsuda and Hadi came walking out of the theater. "That movie gets better every time I see it." Matsuda exclaimed. "Which is impressive considering it was spectacular to begin with. I just can't get over how realistic everything looks. The scenery is breathtaking."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, fantastic movie. Now shut the hell up. If I have to listen to you talk about it for another second I'll be forced to tear my ears off." Hadi complained. "I like it just as much as the next person, but your incessant talking is making me wish the movie never came out."

"Blasphemy!" Matsuda cried, covering his mouth in shock. "How dare you wish ill on my precious movie!"

Hadi looked at her cousin for several seconds, and then began to laugh. "Haahaaha!" She cried, clutching her sides as her whole body began to shake. "You are too much."

Matsuda blinked and cocked his head to the side curiously. "Are you ok?" He asked. "And what's so funny?"

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Hadi smiled. "Nothing Matsuda, nothing at all." Hadi replied. When Matsuda looked like he might question her answer, Hadi took his hand and started walking down the street. "Now let's go get us some lunch, I'm starving."

"Oh, I know this great little restaurant a few blocks down; they serve the best noodles around." Matsuda said excitedly as he tugged Hadi's hand and led here in the opposite direction. "They also have a nice assortment of beverages, and they're usually not very busy either. We can have a nice quiet meal and chat."

'I wonder what he wants to chat about.' Hadi thought as they walked through an older part of town. 'I take that back, I'm sure I don't want to know.'

A few minutes later they'd arrived at a tiny little noodle house. Just as Matsuda said, there were only two other people eating inside the restaurant so they were seated immediately. Taking her menu, Hadi glanced over it quickly since Matsuda looked ready to order.

"I'll have my usual Mrs. Yami." Matsuda told the cheerful old lady who was serving them.

"And what would you like dear?" Mrs. Yami asked.

Hadi closed the menu and handed it over. "I'll have some teriyaki soba noodles with chicken, and some green tea please." She replied.

Mrs. Yami smiled and bowed her head slightly. "It will be about fifteen minutes, but I'll bring your drinks right out."

"Thanks." Matsuda called as the old woman walked away. Turning back towards Hadi, he smiled. "So what do you think, it's a great place isn't it. I found it one day when I got lost."

"It's cute, in an antique sort of way." Hadi said, her eyes wandering the building. "They could use a few more lights, but other than that it's rather nice."

Conversation ceased as Mrs. Yami came back to bring them their drinks. "Enjoy." She said before turning around and walking away once again.

Matsuda picked up his cup, and after blowing on it a little, took a drink. "I do love a good cup of tea." He said with a soft sigh.

Smiling, Hadi took a sip of hers as well.

They sat in comfortable silence for several more minutes until Matsuda put down his cup and looked across the table at his cousin. "We haven't had much time to talk this past week and I thought that now maybe we could have a little heart to heart." He said suddenly.

Hadi raised an eyebrow curiously. "What exactly are you trying to get at?" She asked, unsure if she really wanted to know the answer.

Matsuda opened his mouth, then paused, then opened it again. "I know you don't want me to pry, but I thought perhaps we could talk about your relationship with L and how it's progressing." He blurted out, and then he ducked his head behind his hands and waited for Hadi to hit him.

"You know, I figured that's what you'd want to talk about." Hadi said, shocking Matsuda since instead of hitting him she simply picked back up her cup to take a drink. Putting down her tea, she shook her head. "Even though I've told you many times that there's nothing going on between us, you still can't seem to accept that fact. I'm not sure why you're so obsessed with us being together, but I've given up trying to convince you otherwise. Go ahead and believe whatever you want, but I won't add to your delusions."

"So you still won't admit that you two are together then?" Matsuda asked, his arms dropping to his sides now that he was fairly certain she wouldn't attack him.

"We're not tog-." Pausing, Hadi took a breath. "Ok, what will it take to get you to drop this subject permanently? I'm really tired of having to listen to you go on and on about L and I being a couple."

Matsuda tapped his chin in thought. "Well, how about you admit that you actually like him. I think I can live with that." He said.

"Fine." Hadi said, causing Matsuda's eyes to widen in shock. "I kinda like L, he's a fascinating person. There's nothing going on between us, but I can't say that I would be against getting to know him better. In fact, if I wasn't going home today I probably would."

"…y-you actually like L?" Matsuda sputtered. "Wow, I never thought you'd admit it."

"Are you happy now?" Hadi asked. "Can you finally drop this subject?"

"I guess…but are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" Matsuda asked. "I'm a good listener."

"Matsuda, shut up." Hadi growled as Mrs. Yami came walking back with their food.

"Here you go guys, enjoy." Mrs. Yami said cheerfully as she placed their food down before them.

Matsuda picked up his chopsticks and began to dig in, the conversation over now that his food was here. A fact that Hadi was quite grateful for.

They ate in silence, and once they were finished Matsuda paid the bill and they left the cozy establishment. Once outside, Matsuda took a deep breath and stretched. "That was great, I love that place." He said, rubbing his stomach happily. "Didn't I tell you they had wonderful food?"

"Yeah." Hadi said, a small smile on her lips.

"Well I think we should probably head back now if you want to have time to tell everyone goodbye." Matsuda said as he looked at his watch. "Your train leaves in about two hours."

"So let's get going then." Hadi said. "Lead the way."

Matsuda nodded his head and began to skip slightly as he turned down a street and headed back towards his car.

The walk took nearly twenty minutes, most of which was accompanied by pointless conversation to fill the time. When they arrived back at his car, Matsuda opened the door and he and Hadi climbed in. Starting it up, he pulled his car out of the parking garage and headed down the freeway.

Tired of the silence that had fallen between them since they'd gotten in the car, Matsuda spoke up. "Now don't hit me, but have you thought about staying here so you and L could be together. It's not that far from my place to your school you know." He said, glancing at Hadi briefly.

Hadi rolled her eyes. "Look, I'm not going to change my plans just because I sort of like some sugar obsessed detective. Besides, even if he feels the same way, which it's impossible to tell with that guy, there's no guarantee that it would work out between us. Why should I change what I'm doing for something that may or may not work out? I have my own life and he has his, if we wind up together later so be it, but I won't hold my breath." She said with a shrug.

Matsuda paused. "…I suppose that makes sense." He finally said, just as they pulled into the garage under the hotel. "Though I wonder if you're making the right decision or not."

"It really doesn't matter either way." Hadi said as she climbed out of the car. "I've already made up my mind about things."

"I see." Matsuda said sadly as he opened his door.

"Why don't you wait out front, I won't be very long so there's no point in you going inside." Hadi said, catching the door with her hand. "Besides, if you go in you'll probably start talking and then I'd miss my train."

"Are you sure?" Matsuda asked. "I mean, if you need moral support or something I don't mind helping out."

"Matsuda, I'm only saying goodbye, it's not that big of a deal." Hadi said, rolling her eyes at her cousin.

"I know that, but what about L?" Matsuda said. "Will you be ok saying goodbye to him?"

Hadi shook her head. "I'm going inside now." She said. "Go wait out front and I'll be there shortly." When Matsuda looked ready to protest, she narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Now." She growled.

Matsuda gulped and nodded his head. "No problem, I'll meet you by the entrance." He said quickly.

Closing the car door, Hadi waited for Matsuda to pull out before walking over to the door and keying in the code. Instead of hearing Watari's voice, a much younger one came over the speaker.

"Who is this?" The voice questioned rudely.

"Light, just let me in." Hadi replied. "I'm not in the mood to play games." When silence was her only answer, she grit her teeth in annoyance. "Now, or I will be forced to tell Misa you've bought an engagement ring for her. If you think she's clingy now just wait until she thinks you're going to marry her."

"You wouldn't." Light hissed.

"Care to test that theory?" Hadi asked with a smirk. The doors opened and Hadi frowned slightly. "Damn, now I can't watch Misa go all crazy." She muttered as she walked inside.

Light glared at Hadi as she walked in the room and then promptly turned his back on her. He was still pissed about last night's dinner.

Looking around, Hadi cleared her throat to gain everyone's attention. When three pairs of eyes turned towards her, she smiled. "I just came to tell you all goodbye. It's been fun, but I've got to head back home now. Maybe I'll see you all again sometime." She said to the small group of people she'd spent the last week getting to know…whether she wanted to or not. 'Preferably much later, or in some of your cases, never.' She thought to herself.

Soichiro, Misa, and Mogi all waved farewell to the young woman. "It was nice to meet you Hadi, feel free to come back and help us out if you ever get the chance. You do some great work." Soichiro said with a small smile.

Light rolled his eyes and turned up his nose when Misa started talking. There was no way he was going to wish that _girl_ well. She had been nothing but trouble for him, and last night's dinner only amplified that fact. 'At least with her gone things can finally go back to normal.' He thought. 'The only downside to her leaving is she did actually keep Misa away from me while she was here.'

"I'll miss you Hadi!" Misa cried sadly. "It's been so much fun hanging out with you; make sure you keep in touch. I've programmed all my numbers into your phone, so don't hesitate to call!"

"Uh, yeah, I'll be sure to do that." Hadi said, though it was clear by the tone in her voice she had no intention of doing so. Giving Light a smirk, just to see him frown, she waved one last time before heading out the door. "Later you guys. And you'd better catch Kira soon, or I'll come back here and kick all your asses."

When the door closed behind her, the group inside went back to work. There were still tons of files to go through, leads to follow and Misa had another photo shoot to get ready for. Splitting up, they all went their separate ways and settled back into their routines.

Hadi stepped outside the Kira taskforce headquarters and took a deep breath. Sure some of them were idiots, but she'd had a really good time hanging out with them. Especially that odd detective L. Speaking of L, Hadi nearly had a heart attack when he suddenly grabbed her shoulder. "Holy shit L!" She practically screamed. "Stop appearing out of nowhere, you're going to kill someone one day."

"That is highly unlikely." L stated, dropping his arm to his side. Putting his hands in his pocket, he glanced around somewhat nervously. "I've never been very good at goodbyes." He said slowly. "Light says it's because I'm emotionally stunted, but I think it's because I rarely meet anyone so I have no need to say goodbye. I'm simply not used to them."

"I understand; you're still working on how to act human." Hadi said with a smile. "You're doing great though, so give yourself a break. It takes a while to learn emotions, and you're years behind the rest of us so don't worry about it."

L nodded and scratched his bare foot against his jean clad leg. "True, however I feel the need to say something important and I'm at a loss as to where I should start." He said.

"How about you just say whatever's on your mind. Don't worry about how it comes across, I've gotten used to your bluntness by now." Hadi said with a smirk.

"Very well." L continued. "I will miss you. I have enjoyed spending this time with you and wish that we could continue to get to know each other…preferably on a more personal level." He mumbled the last part under his breath in the hopes that Hadi wouldn't hear him. He wasn't that lucky.

Hadi smiled and stepped closer to the dark haired man. "Me too." She said softly. "Maybe next time we see each other we can go out somewhere together. Perhaps to one of those bakeries you love so much."

"I would…like that." L said, the corner of his lips tilting up slightly. The closest he'd ever gotten to an actual smile.

Nodding her head, Hadi leaned over and gave L a quick kiss on the cheek. "Until next time then." She said as she stepped back. Giving him a small wave, she opened the door to Matsuda's car and climbed in. "Sorry to keep you waiting cous." She said, her eyes meeting L's in the side mirror. "I guess it took me longer than I thought to say goodbye to everyone."

"Don't worry about it." Matsuda replied. "We've still got plenty of time to get you to your train."

"Let's get going then." Hadi said somewhat sadly.

As the pair drove off, L stayed rooted to his spot until the car had disappeared around the corner. "Goodbye Hadi." He said as he turned to head back inside. "I hope I live to see you again."

If Hadi had known that L's days on this earth were numbered, perhaps she would have done things a little differently. Instead she left the man she'd begun to fall in love with standing on the street corner as she drove away. She never was able to see him again as L died a few weeks later, killed by Kira, but she would always remember the time they spent together…even if most of the time she wanted to strangle the odd man.


End file.
